


Reminiscence Of Träumerei

by eceryilyn



Series: The Magnificent Despairful Showtime [3]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Fan Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Fangan Ronpa, Gen, Murder Mystery, Mystery, Puzzle Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:13:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 30
Words: 108,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22863070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eceryilyn/pseuds/eceryilyn
Summary: (Prequel| Spoilers for the mainstoryin the series | COMPLETED ON 12TH AUGUST 2020 )"A story that will never be told.....""A true story of tragicomedy for the monsters."A prequel story that was set two years ago before the main storyline inThe Magnificent Despairful Showtime!.
Series: The Magnificent Despairful Showtime [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1522082
Kudos: 1





	1. Prologue: Daydreamer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I will finish the Salmon Mode first then I could finish the prequel story"
> 
> \- a few moments later -
> 
> "Hey, yeah, so, I'm a LIAR"
> 
> Salmon mode will just have one chapter update while the prequel will have one story arc update (probably around 3 chapters)
> 
> I like making things harder on myself :D

.....

........

_'This really sucks...'_

_'The fact that all our planning that we made for two years falls apart just like that.... **because of that stupid mistake**.... shit, I will get scolded again....'_

"As if we're getting out of this alive....." I snorted, speaking to no one but myself. _Myself_. I'm all alone in this situation. No matter what, I'm still alone, from beginning of the story till the end. It has always been like that, _a lone wolf who's just there to fill the gap between the beginning and the end_.

At this point, Shoma should already gone back to the theater house and destroy the evidence if he could then meet up with Taiga later for that made-up alibi to use for the trial. Higura and the others will have trouble re-grouping and I already convinced little miss- _Shino_ off to find them.

_Shino_. _Hoshino Sumire_. Out of all things that could threw me off my balance in this damned killing game, she's the _least expected obstacle_ _I have to deal with_. I tried my best doing my side of the plan but it fell apart because of her; _the plan that was **made by her,** was **ruined by her** in twisted irony_.

Right now, I have no choice but to admit defeat, I threw the towel and my own death wish against the wall. The _NG Code Poisoning_ that was shackled around my wrist, I smashed it against the wall so that the trial has to happened. In the end, _we really have no other choice_. They need to know about the truth and _they have to know about it **right now**_...

I wonder how well will they take it; _will they be angry? Will they be upset? Will they kill that person and put all the blame onto them?_

If they do that then they will do the mastermind a really big favor in return. Even the mastermind themselves will happily accept that punishment, that's how much of a masochist she really is.

But.... if she really planned to go down that path, how much of those memories she's willing to tell? Once she received those memories, once she saw the damage caused _by her plan that failed from the beginning_ , how would she weave this story filled with nothing but resentment?

......

 _It doesn't matter, the world doesn't have time for unforgivable villains_.

The story that Higura and others will lead through, will paint us as the villains and with Nara as their savior. So many rush preparation I have to make when teacher told me about Nara's condition before I even planted those bombs. I made sure I told those two the plan carefully, as a helping hand of some sort. _But my aid will just be their afterthought in the end_...

The world will paint teacher, Sumi and I as _the true villains here of this Experimental Killing Game, a game where we gained nothing but resentment_.

 _That's fine_ , I'm fine with that story. I'm fine with dying and being known for following those two monsters with obedience.

 _ **Because I have my own reasons to want that story to end that way**._...

_" **The story that started**.... **two years ago**...."_

* * *

" _Hope's Peak Academy_...."

I've recognized that logo on the envelope right away. _The logo of the Hope's Peak Academy_. A school which recognizes high school student with, theoretically speaking, _ultimate talents_. Where only the best will be recruited to join this academy for a better future.

_A better future for themselves._

' _What is this? Some kind of cruel joke the committee decided to pull on me?_ ' I don't have time to attend classes while I'm still undercover. If I accept it, my cover will get blown. I'm slightly glad I saw this package first before anyone else saw it.

 _I would not like to be exposed myself as a **spy**... by a fucking school letter_.

' _I'm being recognized.... as an **Ultimate Spy** , can't those morons see that problem here??_' Spy are meant to be hidden, their identity should have been remained a secret, _so why did this academy just outright leave my identity out for potentially everyone to see?_

At least they didn't know my real name, I've done a really good job burning that name to the ground then!

_'This can't be just a simple request to attend the academy as a student... I'm sure there's an underlying motive somewhere-'_

" _Kanata!!_ Your shift is over, you know?!" The manager of the bar I'm currently working at as a _part-time job_ suddenly burst into the room, leaving me not much time to cover things up. "Oh? What's that? _A letter from those girls that's been ogling over you?_ "

"I-I'm not that popular...." I nervously laughed as I tried to scoop other miscellaneous gadgets that were from the same package. With this amount of stuffs, _**they're just begging to expose me by now**_. " _It's just some acceptance letter_...."

Without any word, the manager picked up the letter and read it himself, before I could even protest, "Huh? You're being chosen as the _**Ultimate Lucky Student**?_ No way!! You!?"

_Ultimate... **Lucky Student**? Me? Lucky?_

Well, my cover is safe so I'm sure as hell really lucky right now, "T-That doesn't make sense, right? I mean, I' keep getting into financial troubles that I can't even keep a one job!"

"Didn't you leave those jobs immediately got shut down, filed for corruption or bankruptcy? You have that luck to avoid some nasty situation or even some close calls!!" The manager grinned. "So you are a lucky one!! Come on, this is a once in a lifetime chance to spread your wings! Broaden your field a bit! You've been hiding your pretty face away due to your shyness so now you can make some friends around your age there!!"

 _For a very good reason_ , "I'm not that good with people, I'm only lucky that I can get along with you and the others here...."

"The people here loves you for your diligence!!" The manager swung his arm over my shoulder, a slight hint of alcohol lingering in his breath. "But because you have an adult's mind in a child's body, we can't help but to tease ya' for that! You're fitted for that proper student status, reporting every single little thing! You need to sit back and relax, go ahead and socialize more! _Make some damn good memories for once in your life!_ "

_.... If only this person knew how much of my reclusive nature wasn't due to my shyness around others._

"Fine, if you insist...." I rolled my eyes back, removing the arm off of my shoulder. "But I won't do well, I can promise you that...."

"No need to make promises over a minor thing!!" The manager gave me a thumbs-up. "We're all families here! We look out for each other no matter what!"

"I'm glad to hear that from you, boss..." I smiled. "Well, better tidy things up, I need to leave before midnight...."

"Oh right, be careful out there....." he frowned. "Some scumbag out there is scamming people out of their pockets, _selling some info on dangerous people out even_... _guess there's going to be a turf war happening soon with that kind of person going around_...."

_A conman?_ Residing at this part of the town? I wouldn't be surprised. Here, you will find the most nastiest yet money-hungry people you can fool. Whatever, a conman is the least of my concern here. And with that, I packed up everything and left the bar.

* * *

Dazzled by the neon-lights of the alleyway, I hung my head low as to not make eye contact with any of the people passing by. With just one look or stare locked with any of the alleyway people and you're screwed, you're now their victim to feast on.

To rob, to make a deal with, _anything can happened here_.

Which is why this kind of job is so annoying, I can't leave any evidences or else I will get caught. I have to refrained myself from getting physical with people like that.

But this time... for some reason... the alleyway seems... _**too empty**_. Not even a whisper can be heard nearby.

_'Some cop patrolling here or something?'_ That will be bad if they saw me, I will sure get questioned for being here out late. And right before I can make my way out into the main street of the town, _someone's blocking my way_.

Someone wearing a long coat and a brown trilby hat. _Wow, I didn't know I'm in a noir film_.

"Excuse me, um, could you please.... allow me to go home safely..?" I tried to play nice this time. "I will be in a huge trouble if I came home late...."

"..... _**Sawamura Kanata**_ , a _part-time janitor_ at the _Sweet Poison's Bar_...." Rather than being shocked about this person knowing my name... this person is... _a girl?_ "Excellent in doing housework chores, currently living at an apartment shared with a roommate who likes to go clubbing. Hobbies are reading mystery novels and window-shopping. Otherwise, _a completely normal high school student_..."

The coated-person removed her hat, her magenta hair tied in a lower side ponytail fell out and hanging over her shoulder, with a wide smile on her face, she said, " _ **But that's just a lie** , isn't it?_"

So this is the conman they warned me about. _Make sense_.

But they're mistaken, this person is not a conman.

Instead, this is that infamous demon the tabloids have dubbed her; the true hell-incarnate themselves, _**Hoshino Sumire**_ , _a private investigator_ and a protegee to _**Hoshino Iwao**_ , a well-known investigator in his prime.

"Hmm, that frightened look on your face tells me that you recognized me!" She nodded as she approaches ever so slowly. "So I can cut to the chase, right? I can jump forward to the part where _**I exposed you as a spy out in the open, right**?_"

 _Fuck_. "What are you saying?" I'm trying to remedy this situation. "I don't really understand, Ms. Hoshino. I think you got the wrong person to interrogate..."

"Really? But I could have swore you're that kind of guy who would be familiar with the people seen around here!!" She pulled out numerous of photos, all different looking people, different eye shapes, eye colors and so on . But what they have in common is that.... " _You looked pretty similar to these people as well!_ "

... _They're all photos of me taking on different jobs prior to this one_.

"... _What do you want?_ " Guess I have to give up my own life here, huh? "If you're here to steal some intel from me then I won't let you...."

"No, that's not why I'm here for..." the investigator placed the photos back into her pocket. "Curiously, if I'm actually here for the intel, I would have kidnapped and torture you to my heart's content. _And you will have to take that pen you have in your pocket there and bite it down to kill yourself!_ So, no, _this situation isn't going to be like that_...."

So she knows about a lethal pill in the pen trick? "Why did they send Iwao's student here? Are they desperate for a lead or something?"

"Hey, hey, I'm still have a humanely will, you know? I can do whatever I want if I feel like it...." she waved her hand dismissively. "You're talking about that runaway case? We've solved it behind shut doors already. _Fufu_ , a case that's been going on for a long time will sure give us enough support we needed for more important cases...."

"Ah, _so you guys lied to the public_...."

"Take that complaint directly to my superiors, not me, _I'm just an apprentice_..." said the investigator. "Hey, we're getting side-tracked here so let me drop a message from the _Hope's Peak Academy Committee_ , _**they want you to investigate the disappearance case of Yumeino Ultimate Academy**_..."

"Me? Not you?"

"Well, of course I'm in it...." She showed the same letter I received earlier. "That's why I got sent this... but I visited them again to confirm my suspicion first. _They're sending three of their freshly recruited students to their sister school as a back-up!_ "

"That case.... _the one that's been going on for almost ten years now?_ " I asked. "They might as well leave it as a cold case if they needed help from a bunch of students. Also, I have a job right now-"

"No worries, we helped you get rid of that pesky job requirement out of your hands!!" she smirked. "I've sent all the necessary information to the spymaster and asked for their approval of your involvement in this case. So far, so good! _You can leave that bar as soon as possible!_ "

"-to do..... _what?_ " She managed to.... _outwork my own work?_ How does she even know what's my job here? "Hey, that doesn't make any sense, it took me _**months**_ to-"

" _It only took me **a week** to do my own bidding_..." I'm not surprised that _ **the future Ultimate Private Investigator**_ was able to do _**that**_. "This territory may be dangerous but there's still some people willing to place their poison in this town's system. A rumor about _some shady people going to lock them up for their crimes they've hidden?_ _'Oh, better hire some grunts to guard my place overnight!'_ Without even knowing the same grunts who worked for them.... _**also worked under me temporarily**_...."

"So that's how you got those photos of me... _cheeky_...." The method that earned her title as _'The Demonic Investigator'_.

That cruel side of many detectives or investigators is quite fascinating, it really shows how there are some who's not afraid to be awful for using people. Those people must have been indebted to her in some way, "What makes you think I will be willing to take this case and not leave here immediately?"

" _ **You can't defy your superior and I know that much**_...." That's too quick for an answer. "You're a street person and the spymaster took you under his wing. Or... _**you're just a pitiful runaway**_ , if I have to correct him...."

" _ **Watch your mouth**_...." No one's supposed to know _**that**_.

"Oh? You're gonna kill me right here? But you will get killed in return as well!" She said ever so cheerfully. "These alleyways are empty for a good reason, you know? The same people who works under me are also nearby. _**Why else did they hold themselves back and didn't jumped on you when they have the chance now?**_ "

"You.... planned this ahead....." She's no ordinary investigator, her skills are... _abnormal_.

"Ah, that kind of face of terror is quite dull for my taste...." she sighed, shaking her head. "Such a shame, I'm looking for a more pure and contorted kind. I really like cornering my targets and backing them into the corner just to see their frightened face, _it's quite exciting actually!_ "

".... _You're quite a pervert yourself, huh?_ "

" _Hey, what's with that accusation- **Hey** , who's laughing over there!?_"

I don't get it. She's frightening for sure but _she's also all over the place_. She's some sort of.... _eccentric_? I guess that's more of a appropriate term for her now. But I need to keep an eye out for her still, despite her harmless intentions... _she can still be **unpredictable**_.

"I will cut your payment if you laugh at me like that again!" That silenced them immediately. Now that the joke has passed, she looked at me with a more serious face, "... People are here are going to notice if they heard about those places keep getting shutting right after you leave those places behind. They're not that stupid, but they can get reckless if they wanted to. So what will be your answer, _**Oshiro Eiichi**?_"

_What...?_

"You like that name? I'm the one who came up with it!" she seemed to be proud of it. " ** _Spies have no identities_** , do they? You gave them one and they will do their best to act differently! Just like actors!! Which is why.... _**I'm interested in what kind of role you will play for this case**_...."

"..... What are you gonna do with the bar? I still have most of my belongings there, I can't leave them like that..."

"Oh, don't worry, I took care of that problem, _**you will see tomorrow morning**_...."

* * *

" _The Sweet Poison' Bar has been burned to the ground, manager arrested for money laundering scheme...."_

Indeed, she really took care of it. Right when I woke up, a news article begins circulating about my old workplace and all the records recording my presence there has been burnt until there's nothing left. The workers and manager as well were, as I quote the article, _traumatized_ by their situation and didn't say anything else.

The cause of the fire has been declared by a crazy arsonist group, _end of the story_.

_'Quickly solved, quickly tied together, just like what they've said....'_ I never thought I would witnessed the demon investigator methods in solving a case. Forging some strong connection in any places she could go to for easy info, slithering her way into their stronghold. That bold bravery and mental fortitude is not something you should messed with....

"Oh well, that takes care of my work..." At least, my job at the bar has been done and erased, good riddance! I closed the news application on my phone, "Now then... it's time for...."

The start of our investigation at the _**Yumeino Ultimate Academy for Elite**_ s as the _**Ultimate Lucky Student**_ , what a mouthful name.

The school has made headlines before, _being the one who always hosted numerous of carnivals and events set up by their ultimate students to showcase their talents_. I even heard that _it's part of their curriculum and that students must at least hosted one special booth at any events of their choice_.

It helps building the students' communication skills and business practices as they formed many more connections with the higher-ups or other cooperation if they got their interest.

"What.... does the _Ultimate Lucky Student_ even have to do in that case....?" _Russian Roulette_ , maybe? No, I'm not gonna kill anyone on my first event. _Gambling_ is out of the question, even though I'm good at that. _A Monthy Python Problem_..... yeah, I don't want to experience some backlash on my first year.

" _You're blocking someone's way, you know?_ "

" _ **You** told me to wait for you and the other person_...." It has only been the first day at the academy and she's already trying to test my patience.

Both of us wore the academy's uniform, similar to how Hope's Peak uniforms except with dark brown plaid pants for males and skirts for females as usual. That tiny detail is how they differentiate the students from _Yumeino_ and _Hope's Peak_ altogether.

But the rules said that the students can still wear their usual working attire if they're preparing for events so that's a bonus.

"So? Where is that other person you're talking about?" We went to Hope's Peak prior to going our designed location for a brief assessment. _There's supposed to be the three of us here_. "That person wasn't there during assessment..."

"Oh, she was... she just doesn't want to show up for a minor interview...." Sumire looks.. _annoyed_. "Just wait, I got her location tracked on my phone, _she's going to be here any second now_....."

"You're tracking someone down just for that-" A truck suddenly stopped right in front of us; _a delivery truck_. "W-What, some sort of post for the academy?"

The delivery man went outside once he caught sight of the two students in front of the gate, "Ah, excuse me, miss.... are you _Hoshino Sumire_ by any chance? We got a special delivery for that recipient!"

"Yes, I'm the one you're looking for! _Thank you for the quick delivery time!_ " _Excuse me,_ _**what?**_

"Ahhh... I can't believe I get to witnessed _The_ _Hoshino_ on my first day at work...." the man looks pretty excited just by gazing at her with admiration. It's almost... _creepy the way he stared at her so lovingly_.

"Sign here for confirmation and if it's not too much of a bother, would you mind signing my notepad as well? My father has been a fan of Mr. Iwao, _he even saw quite a few shows based on the cases he worked on!_ "

"That's nice!" That doesn't sound like an honest reply. "My mentor is thrilled to hear someone admired him still! Again, thank you for your service!"

With the man now leaving us two alone with a... _rather heavy package_ judging by how difficult it was for him to carry, I strike up the conversation first, "Your mentor is really popular with the older folks, huh...."

"His name has been considered a legendary status so don't be too shocked if you have his name and the press immediately gets on your case," she shrugged it off. "Anyways, let's get this thing opened up already!!"

_And that's the end of it?_

She opened up the package using the sharp tip of the mechanical pencil to remove the tough tape around the box and inside it was... _a miniature cat robot?_ What? "Why did you ordered this?"

"Hell no, I didn't waste money on an express delivery for a measly robot..." She proceed to mindlessly turned something on until we heard a clicking sound. "Heeey... _Nara_... you in there?"

" _Uwahaha!!_ " the robot suddenly stood up without a warning. " _Nara has been reborn into a body of metal and circuits!! The amazing Nara shall lived on to see another day!!_ "

"I-It's sentient!?" An AI feline robot just announced its appearance like that?!

"No, it's just that person speaking through this robot for.... _private reasons_..." Those private reasons has to be something mundane for someone like her to make such a disbelief expression. "This is _Katou Nara_ , our little classmate for this semester. She's also known as the _**Ultimate Hacker**_...."

" _Nara is well known for her breakthrough skills!! She even went to court because of it!!_ "

I, immediately, took out my phone to continue the conversation.

* * *

_**Eii-chan** > [ "is nara her real name?" ]_

_**Mire-Oshi**! > [ "i gave her that name" ]_

_**Eii-chan** > [ "is she a black-hatter?" ]_

_**Mire-Oshi**! > "[ yeah" ]_

_**Eii-chan** > [ "if i go to jail during class, i'm dragging her with me" ]_

_**Mire-Oshi**! > [ " (°〇°) gl www " ]_

* * *

" _Hm? Why is Nara new comrades so quiet all of the sudden?_ " Nara asked innocently. " _Ah! I see her new comrades sharing information through texting!! No fair! Invite Nara too!! Nara's going to send the invite herself!!_ "

"No need, it's just some random crap...." Sumire immediately rejects the offer. "Now that your ass is finally here, we can go and see the instructor who we're supposed to meet later! But first, _homeroom since you made us late_...."

" _Nara can only do so much with the delivery time!!_ " She whined. " _And Nara can't really walk fast so one of you please carry Nara to her classroom!_ "

"No way, I'm not gonna do something as lame like that so Eii-chan, _I'm leaving it to you_...." With that, Sumire left us behind.

" _Eii-chan, huh? That's your name, huh? Please carry Nara!! If not, Nara will play a siren music that could alert guard dogs from their sleep!!_ "

..... _Am I really going to be alright working with these kind of people for two years?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Chapter Featured in this story - **Alptraum's Hymn** \- _Nightmare's Anthem_  
>  * Name of the story from Eiichi's perspective - **Reminiscence Of Träumerei** \- _Daydream's Recollections / Memories of Daydream_
> 
> It's Eiichi's time to be Stress™


	2. I. New Ensemble Act I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio met with their instructor but already faced with a troublesome situation...!

To say that the Hope's Peak Academy is the most highly-facilitated academy in the whole country is no doubt the truth.... _if you've never visited the campus of Yumeino Ultimate Academy For The Elites_.

This _Ultimate Academy_ went too superb with their needed facilities; an actual monorail for students to use to commute back-and-forth from the city, a well-maintained outdoor dining garden near the cafeteria, numerous spacious facilities for students to work on their projects during their free time and they're next to a fucking beach for crying out loud , _it's absurd how well-off they are here_.

A school that's built on a certain system and forming ties with certain people to provide the best for their students' need and future; _they really provided more than they need to_. "Yumeino has the same recruitment system like Hope's Peak, right? I'm surprised they can maintained a huge school like this with a handful of students they've recruited...."

"Not really, it's quite easy...." Sumire answered. "Every festivals they held, their earnings will be split half-and-half, one half goes to the students for their efforts, and the rest will go to the school and companies for their side of deal. Even like that, the student here earned way too much for what they did....."

" _Students here can suddenly be rich after graduating!!_ " Nara added her point while wriggling beneath my hold. " _Of course, festival preparations still depends on the student's budget! So they can't have all that money to themselves!!_ "

Still, that's quite much. Just how well earned are they is enough to make everyone envious, but it's still admirable that they would still make an effort for it, "Speaking of which, we needed to think of one related to our talents, huh... Did you guys-"

" _I already have one in mind_..."

" _Nara has one already!_ "

"Huh!? I'm the only one who hasn't had any ideas for it!?" I've just heard about this system today!! "No way, how the hell do you guys thought up about it!?"

"A simple idea, _an escape room_ but I decided ask the _**Ultimate Medium**_ in our class for a small collaboration...." the investigator explained. "Combining both of our ideas together, we will make _ **a haunted escape room**_. _Thrilling and will definitely have the best frightened reactions!_ "

" _Nara collaborate with the same student who provided her this body!_ " said Nara. " _Nara and the **Ultimate Roboticist** will hold a **Hack-a-thon competition**! The person who can hacked into the safe faster will earned their grand prize!!_"

" _ **Aren't you just creating more bad apples in the hacker community though**_...." But damn, it seems I'm the only who has no idea what to do here. Perhaps... _I will have an idea after getting to know our classmates for a bit_.

Right as we entered the main hall of the academy, one of the staff is already waiting for us, "Ah! You three must be the students that Hope's Peak sent, right? Nice to meet you, I'm your homeroom teacher, _**Mafuyu Hisao**_ , _**Former Ultimate Psychologist**!_"

Each one of us said our name and greetings in return, I've heard about this person. He's also _**the former alumni of Hope's Peak**_ themselves and his research are often the main topic of discussion or presentation for university students, even though he made those papers when he was still in high school. Despite his complex works, people were quite surprised that he's just some easy-going person.

"Right, right... now then, Sumire, Eiichi and....." Hisao just stared at the robot in my arms before deciding, " _Dor**mon!_ Please to have you three joined our class here!"

" _I-I'm not Dor**mon! I'm Nara-e-mon!!_ "

"It's sentient?! Ah, wait, this is the _**Ultimate Hacker**_ 's work!!" He placed his hands on his hip as he scolded. "Even though attendance isn't mandatory, at least show up physically!! I will get in big trouble if I let my students do whatever they like!!"

" _Nara refused to show herself in public!! If she did, she will burned at the stake!!_ "

"Hackers are quite strict with their public appearance, _teacher_..." Sumire smiled. " _You know you shouldn't put your students under a spotlight, that would put their life in danger_...."

"I see!! I understand perfectly!!" That sort of vague threat didn't affect him that much. "However, please make a permission letter to the administrator at least! It would be a waste of time if the principal keep calling me to his office just to discuss your... _appearance!_ "

Our teacher, _Mafuyu Hisao_ , proceed to guide us our classroom; he told us it's a classroom consists of 17 people, well, 16 people and a robot that is. The number of students they taken in for each semester varied differently and sometimes they might split them into groups if there's a lot of them. "We understand the purpose behind your transfer from Hope's Peak but we nonetheless hope you enjoy your school years here!!"

"We will try not to let our studies interfere too much with our purpose here...." the investigator replied. "But I sincerely hope you would explained my sudden placement in the student council?"

"Ah, that's just a request from me personally!!" The psychologist cheerfully explained. "I think it's for the best that one of you would be part of the student council for easy info! After all, the council is under my supervision as well!"

That's not a bad idea actually; student council has all the info regarding the school's status, resources and the personal data on the students themselves. It's easy to referred back any odd records that the group might have their hand in. With one of us in, there wouldn't be no suspicion at all and we wouldn't have to sneakily invite ourselves in..... _I hope_.

"Hey, teacher-"

"Just call me _'Hisao'!_ I'm only 26 years old, you know! I'm not a deadbeat yet!!"

 _That is young, I guess?_ "I'm just gonna stick with _'teacher'_. Teacher, what about the three other instructors that we were supposed to meet?"

"Ah, they're..... _**a bit busy right now**_...." they're probably not judging by his annoyed face. "Unfortunately I'm the most convenient person available to pick you guys up so _I'm expecting to give them an earful once they got back from Europe_..."

_Oh, so they're still on vacation then?_

"But worry not!! This won't absolutely sour my mood to give you all the best academic years of your life!!" We stopped in front of our designated classroom. Hisao swung open the door with vigor, "Sorry for the late arrival- Huh!? _Why are there a few of you only here!?_ "

Sumire and I peeked behind him, only five people here. _Five people in the classroom and then three in the hallway right now_ , _ **only eight people here present**. _"Ehhh... guess we're not the only one who's late....."

"I apologized for such a disorganized first day, teacher...." the white pixie-haircut girl bowed. "I tried my hardest to locate the remaining students but it failed miserably....."

"A-Ah, no worries about it, _Homare_....." our teacher sighed. "How about we introduced to each other first then we can find the rest together? Anyways, I'm _**Mafuyu Hisao**_ , the _ **Former Ultimate Psychologist**_ and your homeroom teacher...."

" _ **Hoshino Sumire**_ , _**Ultimate Private Investigator**_...."

" _Nara is **Katou Nara**! The **Ultimate Hacker**!! Nice to meet ya'!!_"

" _ **Oshiro**_... _**Eiichi**_..." I haven't gotten used to that name yet. " _ **Ultimate Lucky Student**_...."

" _Lucky Student?_ Could it be you're the one from Hope's Peak?" white-haired girl asked. "Ah, pardon my rudeness, my name is _**Takara Homare**_ , the _**Ultimate Fencer**_...."

Lucky students are that well-known trademarked of Hope's Peak, I guess it's kind of weird this academy suddenly accepted one luck-related talent. _A fencer_ , huh? Kind of a given seeing that dangerous-looking weapon strapped in its sheath around her waist.

"Everyone, please introduce yourselves as well!!" She called out to the remaining people in the classroom.

"You don't have to yell...." the tall ashy brown-hair guy with glasses sighed. " _ **Yokoda Machi**_ , the _**Ultimate Librarian**_ , just call me 'Macchan', alright?"

" _ **I-Ishimoto Nao**!!_" a smaller girl next to him stuttered out her name. "U- _ **Ultimate Ghostwriter**!! Please take care of me well!_"

" _ **Setsu Hibiki**_ , the _ **Ultimate Opera Singer**_...." the dark-skinned girl introduced herself next. She's really beautiful with her wavy hair and its gradient changed from dark brown to even lighter colors. "Hey, _it's your turn next_...."

"Yeah, yeah, just shut up, I'm almost done with this!!" A boy whose eyes are fixated onto the laptop in front of him, he seems to be drawing something. " _ **Mochizuki Higura**_ , _**Ultimate Graphic Designer**_ , now don't bother me anymore!!"

"Tough crowd...." I commented. All different hostile personalities, _absolutely not friendly at all_. "Would we really be fine-"

"Huh? _A Takara and a Mochizuki at the same time?_ " Sumire suddenly spoke out. "That's quite a rare sight, I thought you two families would be too unstable when placed in the same room...."

Higura and Homare visibly flinched.

"H-Hey, you idiot, what are you doing-"

"To everyone's not surprising knowledge, they still refused to work with each other even under teacher's guidance, how typical..." she's smiling as she keeps riling them up. "Well, it's just as everyone expected, no worries, _we don't have that much expectation for both of you worked together_ -"

"Ah, Sumire, that's not-" Hisao didn't managed to stop anything from escalating way too quickly as the graphic designer immediately stood up.

" _ **Hey**_...." he glared at us rather dangerously. "What did you say about us being too busy fighting to even give a shit? Do you really think we're that too self-absorbed to do that?"

"I didn't say anything remotely close to that but if you wanna see it that way then go ahead!"

" _ **Fine then**!!_ We will play your stupid little game!! You!! We're going to prove this bitch wrong!!" Homare didn't get to say anything as she has been forcefully dragged along by Higura.

" _H-Hey! How dare you!! This is a very indecent way to ask for help-!!_ "

" _Oh, shut up! You will do the same anyways!_ "

We watched as the duo kept throwing words at each other down the hallway until they disappeared out of our sight. _'She... managed to convinced them just like that....'_

"Well then, now that those two are finally out, isn't it time to search for the rest of our classmates, teacher?" Sumire innocently asked the psychologist, as if _she didn't set off a very heated battle between two prolific families_.

"Hm? Ah, right..." teacher got rather entranced by the confrontation earlier. "Um, for you three.... I think it's easier to find the _**Ultimate Animal Behaviourist**_ and _**Ultimate Marine Biologist**_ first around the campus here...."

" _Nara have already pinned down their locations!!_ " said the hacker. " _Nara was busy locating other students right after everyone's introductions!! Did Nara missed anything else?_ "

"Yeah.... _you've just missed possibly the very first bloodbath that will be happening soon_...." I sighed as I eyed on the person next to me. "That's very reckless of you to say it out loud, what happened if you got onto their bad side and they threatened to sue you or something?"

"That will never happened...." she said that with such confidence. " _Because my mentor's the one who dragged their name out of the mud in the first place_...."

' _...!? She sounds so cold!?_ ' Her playful attitude automatically dissolves once she brought up her mentor... wasn't she happy when that postman associated her with that Hoshino? "A-Anyways, _we need to find those two next_...."

"Hi-Hibiki! You wanna try and find them...?" the ghostwriter timidly asked the opera singer besides her as the other just nodded as a sufficient reply.

"You guys are not that familiar with the campus' layout, right? I will show you guys around, I've worked at this academy's library before so I know the way around here..." Machi offered his help.

" _Then Nara will help Nao and Hibiki!! All girls stick together!!_ " I placed the robot down as it stumbled its way to the two girls. " _Nara will be the girls' map!!_ "

"U-Um.... this is... a human controlling a robot, right? It's not sentient, right...?" Nao asked nervously. " _Like Dor**mon?_ "

" _I'm not Dor**mon but rather Nara-e-mon!!_ " Nara angrily claimed. " _Nara-e-mon is more advanced than that cat robot!! Nara can self-destruct on command that could bring down an entire tower with it!!_ "

"That better be a joke, Nara!!" That sentence just made the psychologist a lot more scared of the hacker's capabilities. "Y-You better have the function removed by this week immediately!!"

" _Okay_ , there's a lot of weird arguments going on so off we go to find our classmates. _We're going off first!!_ " Machi called out to the rest of the class as he pushes us both outside of the room. " _You got guts to pull that shit out_..."

"It's more efficient than to have all of our classmate to partake our search, isn't it?" she doesn't seem too bother about it. "After all, _I wouldn't want to spend my academic years being seated with classmates who couldn't put their differences aside_...."

"Ugh, I can't argue with that, those kind of people are a pain to deal with...." Machi sighed. "But you're _that Hoshino_ 's kid, right? You better watch your back next time you run your mouth like that, _no doubt you will regret that soon_...."

" _Oh?_ "

_What's with this intense energy between the two of them?_

"Anyways, it's best we get going with this, the faster we find them, the lesser our time spent-"

"Yeah, yeah, we should go now, _Macchan_..." Sumire pushed the librarian ahead, ignoring his protests. "We don't want any bad records etched to our names on the first day already!!"

"H-Hey!! Slow down, will you?!"

 _There she goes again_ , literally pushing people around as usual as I slowly followed along behind them, _keeping an eye out for any suspicious activities_.

* * *

"Nara texted us that the behaviorist might be at the outdoors dining garden place...."

"Wait a minute, how did she get my phone number? I didn't even give her mine?"

"Hackers has their way with communication...." Sumire turned off her phone. "You can't expect them to patiently wait for something they can get easily using their own skills.... hm? _Is that the person we're looking for?_ "

The outside dining area is flourished with gardens of all sorts of floral and faunas, it's more closer to think it's a park rather than a place for students for just eat and talk about their day. On one of wooden benches, there's a green-haired girl who.... _seems like she's talking to the sparrows that landed on her hand?_

"What the heck... _that's a Di*ney Princess' scene over there_....." Something that can only happened in fairy tales actually appeared right before me!! "But that can't get any more obvious now, _that's definitely the person we're looking for_...."

" _ **Hanabusa Hinako**_ , _ **Ultimate Animal**_ ** _Behaviorist_**...." Machi read the details given to him by Nara. "An animal lover who's known to befriended all kinds in less than a day, a real-life princess beloved and possibly raised by nature like in fairy tales. Her three sizes are- Wait, _why the hell did she send me this!?_ "

"If you continue that sentence, _ **you wouldn't see the end of it**_...." Sumire warned him. "But this is quite troublesome.... _we can't approach her so easily_..."

"Why is that?" I asked. The investigator then pointed at something behind the behaviorist, and as Machi and I take a closer look, _ **we understand why she said that**_ , "W-Why is there a bear and a tiger right there with her!?"

"Not only that, there's-" Suddenly we heard something screeched above us, the sparrow that was on Hinako's hand suddenly flew up and soon taken away by an eagle swooping in to catch it. "... _that eagle keeping an eye on her surroundings_...."

"G-Guiding animals to school, that's no _Di*ney Princess_ , _that's a hundred percent Noah_ over there!!" Machi commented in shocked.

"Nevertheless, I will try and approach her..." Sumire stood up, _we're hiding behind the bushes while trying to find that person actually_. " _Tell my people that I have died an honorable death_...."

" _ **Why are you sealing that fate now?**_ " As if this academy would allow death to happened within the campus. "Ah, there's cats-"

"Oh, if it's cats then I'm fine with that!!" she said it too quickly as she marched on over to the behaviorist side's. "Uwaahh, they're so cute!!"

"It seems a group of rabbits have finally come out to see me now...." Hinako chuckles as she patted the calico cat on her lap. "May I know your name, little rabbit? You're quite the cutest of the bunch, aren't you?"

"Thanks for the flattery!! My name is Hoshino Sumire!! Nice to meet _nyagh!?_ " The behaviorist suddenly pinched Sumire's cheek out of sheer curiosity. "W-What are you doing!?"

"Your cheeks are highly elastic..." Hinako laughed. "Could it be you're made of gummy? Gummy rabbits are children's favorite snacks, you know? _Also bright-colored snacks are every predators favorite target_."

"She's getting bullied instead....." I stood up immediately. "I'm gonna help her then.... um... excuse me, _Ms. Hanabusa?_ "

"Oh, this must be the polite rabbit...." she lets go of the investigator's reddened cheek. "Nice to meet you!! I'm _Hanabusa Hinako_ , the one you're looking for probably!"

"No, you're exactly the one we're looking for...." I nervously laughed. "We're searching for our missing classmates so that we can finally start the homeroom lessons...."

"Oh my, I didn't noticed that!!" exclaimed Hinako. "I was too busy cooing over these beautiful animals that followed me here that I didn't even noticed the time!!"

" _ **They followed you from where exactly**_...." Machi also came out of his hiding to join us. "How did the guards even allow you to enter the campus with these two animals...."

" _All thanks to this beautiful bear's_....." the behaviorist rubbed the belly of the predator and both Machi and I flinched at the meaning of that action. "... _amazing growl!!_ The growling of a bear is quite mesmerizing when it came from its belly!!"

" _ **Okay then**!_" Machi cuts her off before she could say anything. "We should find others first then we can discuss what to do with these animals here!! At most, we have to take them with us or else some innocent students will get gobbled-up instead!!"

It took me a while to find where Sumire is, she seemed to be enjoying herself with the cats surrounding her, playfully poking at their paws and toe-beans. ' _That's rare, didn't know she like animals... I thought she would prefer more resourceful animals like dogs and such since she's all that_....'

"A young maiden's heart is still delicate and full of secrets...." the animal whisperer appeared besides me. "You would have to expect the least after all!"

"I'm not sure if you know this but _this person here isn't fitted to be called 'a maiden'._....." Why does she give me that all of the sudden? And is that a direct reply to my thoughts? Is she a mind-reader as well?

"Oh, I'm very aware of the cute rabbit is quite unique.... that's why I wanna remind you as such!"

_Huh...?_

* * *

"Next, the _**Ultimate Marine Biologist**_ can be found at the swimming pool area, just near the outdoors dining area..."

"It's right behind the gym as well so it's probably easy to find them...."

Hinako and Sumire were too busy chatting about cats as Machi and I went ahead with our search. One of the smaller cats, a black and white one, have taken a liking towards the investigator as it sat on her shoulder and isn't inclined to leave yet. Even Hinako is impressed by its willingness to stay. _Of course, we definitely can't ignore the tiger, bear and eagle following behind us_.

"This is quite a dangerous person we've found.... let's hope this next one isn't too wild- _That's him!?_ " Machi halted, pointing at a lone figure floating mindless inside one of the swimming pool. From afar, _it looks like a dead body floating instead_. "H-Hey, did he passed out or something!? We better hurry and get him out-"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, _Macchan_...." Hinako called out to him, as she urged us to look at the person's surroundings closely. Something's swimming around and slithering across the floated body. "It's too dangerous for any one of us to enter the pool...."

"Those are _**moray eels**_....." The striking yet dull patterns on the animals are too distinguished to miss. ".... We would get hurt if we disturbed those animals....."

"Did those things killed him?" Sumire narrowed her eyes. " _Oh,_ no, he's still alive. _Hey!!_ _Your classmates are here to pick you up!!_ "

Somehow, _that works_. The body responded as he floated back up, the person is still wearing his school uniform as his blue hair is drenched with water. "Ah.... this critter's new friends has finally come by for a harvest.... too bad, old friends needed to go back to their home-place now...."

There are aquarium tanks next to the ladder of the pool, _did he seriously dump them all in?_ "W-Where on earth did you get those things!? They're not even safe to keep as a pet!"

"This critter went here early but they heard the distress call of their old friends from afar....." the marine biologist explained as the eels surrounded him. "They're sad that their home-place is too dirty to swim around so this critter helped them to find a better one....!"

So he's decided to put them in the academy's swimming pools. How on earth did he not get sting yet?

"That's a valiant act, _**Amahiko Shoma**_!!" Hinako clapped her hands. "Unfortunately, we must relocate these beautiful animals to their supposed habitat!! I will aid with the relocation, do not worry a bit!!"

" _How are you gonna_ -" Hinako made a whistling tune and then suddenly a bunch of eagles swooped in and captured the moray eels easily. They barely missed the person still residing in the pool who didn't even flinched when they suddenly appeared. We watched as the group of eagles flew away, carrying the eels with them.

" _The deed is done_...."

" _ **They're going to eat them, aren't they?**_ " Machi asked.

" _It's best not to bring that up around Amahiko_..." Hinako playfully winked. "Now then for the biologist himself!! Go forth!! _Onikuma!!_ "

The black bear from before suddenly jumped into the pool and swam its way to the direction of the marine biologist... _and bit on his sleeves as it swam its way back_. Machi and I immediately pulled him upwards as he's placed on his backside.

"Hehe... even land and air critters helped this critter...!" he cheerfully said. "This critter, _**Amahiko Shoma**_ , _**Ultimate Marine Biologist**_ , is now at your service...!"

" _Long time no see, Shou-chan_...." Sumire kneels down besides Shoma. "Have you been well?"

"Ah...! _That child of Hoshino_...! It's nice to see you again.....! This critter is eager to see _the child of the stars_ again after for so long....!" Shoma sat up as he patted the cat that Sumire has.

' _These two know each other? No, knowing her, it might be due to something rather weird or dangerous_.....' I shook my head off of those intrusive thoughts. Instead, I looked back at the behaviorist who's currently rewarding the bear for his action.

"You know....." Machi slowly spoke up, _looking rather dead-tired already_. "If I knew it's going be like this, _I should have written a will much earlier_....."

"Y-yeah...."

_I completely forgot that this is just the first period of our first day here._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My humor was based on Gag Manga Biyori and iT CLEARLY SHOWS


	3. II. New Ensemble Act II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The search for their classmates continues....!

* * *

**Eii-chan** > [ " _nara, we found them already_ " ]

 **Nararan**! > [ " _Ei-chan help!!! we need some assistance!!!_ ━Σ(ﾟДﾟ|||)━  
" ]

 **Eii-chan** > [ "?" ]

 **Nararan**! > [ " _there's a possessed human in the music room!_ " ]

 **Eii-chan** > [ " _it's daytime though?_ " ]

 **Nararan**! > [ " _hurry up and find the ultimate medium!!_ " ]

* * *

Just like that, Nara ended the message there with the location of the _**Ultimate Medium**_ attached to it. It seems there's a small shrine near the outdoors dining area by using the stone path instead. " _Another problem to deal with_...."

"What is?" I showed Sumire the message that I received as she patted the cat that's currently on her head right now. " _ **Ultimate Medium**_... _**Oki Renma.**_ It's preferable if two people go and look for him, he doesn't like a big crowd staring at his work after all...."

"You seem to recognized most of the people here prior recruitment, huh?"

"When you have ways with connections, it's easy to pick up some rumors about the chosen students here...Ouch-" the cat bit her ear. "Anyways, _Macchan_ , _Shou-chan_ , _Hina-chan_ , you guys can go ahead, we will be back with another student...."

"I think I need to rest from what just happened...." Machi confessed as he quietly escorted the other two to their classroom. "At least tell me who are you looking for just in case...."

"The _Ultimate Medium_ , _Oki Renma_..." That answer made the librarian frowned instead. "W-What's wrong?"

"No, I didn't expect that kind of person would attend here....." Machi muttered out his reply as he placed his hands on both my and Sumi's shoulders. "Good luck with it anyways, _you will need it_..."

The librarian went ahead guiding the other classmates to their respected classroom... _along with the other two animals they're forced to bring with_. Without wasting any more time, Sumi and I (along with the cat that's with her this entire time) decided to head towards the direction of the small shrine from the garden.

....

..........

....

" _Hey, it was morning when we first entered here, right?_ "

" _Mhn_..."

" _There's no mistake, it's still morning, right?_ "

" _You have a phone to check the time_...."

Yes but the problem here is that the more we're closely approaching the shrine, the darker our surroundings has become instead, like there's no sunlight here. It was covered by the dense forest initially before it gradually surrounded with wisteria trees instead. ' _It's quite beautiful actually, seeing bright wisterias in nighttime_...'

"Say, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

Here goes nothing, "Why do they call you _that_?"

" _That what?_ "

" _The Demonic Investigator_... like did you send off your investigation with a catchphrase or something?"

" _What kind of comic book super-villain are you even thinking about?_ " she just stared at me in disbelief. "That's nothing, it's just what they wanted to call me ever since I became an investigator...."

"And... you're okay with that?" So it wasn't by her.

" _Let them believe in what they wanted to believe_ , in that way, there will be less people standing in your way..." she went ahead first. ".... _End of discussion_..."

' _I'm pretty sure that just made everyone wanted to know a lot more_.....' I tried to keep up with her pace.

From the distance we saw the shrine we're looking for, the small brown-wooded makeshift shrine that doesn't seem too grand, like they types you see during _New Years' Festival_. A statue of a tiger and bear is right in front of it, littered with lit incense surrounded it. There's also a girl there inspecting the statues closely...

"Is that....?"

"No, that couldn't be the _Ultimate Medium_... but maybe one of our classmates still..." She suggested. "Let's see if she is...."

Before I could even speak, a pair of arms suddenly wrapped around my neck and then pulled me back forcefully, I can feel some weight pressing down on my left shoulder, " _W-What's going on!?_ "

" _Such a fearful reaction_...." A sultry voice near my ears, " _Demons feeds on the fearful ones more easily, you know?_ "

_A-An actual demon!?_

"Hey, Eii-chan...." While all of this going on, Sumi doesn't even look besides her, completely oblivious to it. "Move your head to the right...."

"I-I'm already doing that!!" I tried to pull myself away from this dangerous person. "Y-You don't have to tell me-"

_BANG!_

In a flash, the girl whom we almost forgot was inspecting the shrine before suddenly enter my view as she leaped forward and immediately kicked the figure behind me away. With the figure off of me, I almost fell onto the investigator, "W-What!?"

"That's really dangerous!!" The girl stood up as she looked down on the mysterious figure from before. "You will get called in for harassment, you know!? You will get punished!!"

' _I-I think she did that already to him_.....'

"S-Sorry....." the figure, now that I looked at him closely, has a rather angelic face with grey hair and green eyes. "They looked rather scared so I can't help but to frighten them a bit...."

"Geez, and you promised you would keep your hauntings to a bare minimum!!" she proceed to scold him even further. "That's why people will still be scared of you, _Renma!!_ "

"Huh? Renma...? You're the _Ultimate Medium_....?" I watched as the other pulled up the supposed medium onto his feet.

"Yes, I am _**Oki Renma**_ , recognized as the _ **Ultimate Medium**_ by this academy...." he bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you all..."

"And I'm _**Satoshi Kiharu**!_ Don't forget about me when I save you guys!!" She leaned against Renma with a huge grin on her face. "I am the greatest explorer that all children look up to!! _The **Ultimate Archaeologist** of Yumeino Ultimate Academy_!! Don't go forgetting about that name now after this, babe!"

_An archaeologist and medium inspecting the shrine_ , that's quite a duo. "Why..... are you guys here and not attending homeroom sessions?"

"Isn't attendance not really mandatory?" Kiharu raised an eyebrow. "Also, my discovery senses are tingling when I first stepped onto this campus, there's a lot of hidden gems that's waiting to be discovered and I will not rest until I find them all!!"

" _The spirits of this place has been urging me to visit their resting place_...." Renma smiled. "I thought it would be nice to pay them some respects for our classmates' future, _don't you think?_ "

" _ **Isn't that a talisman for cursing someone to hell?**_ " Sumi asked as she keeps glancing over the aforementioned shrine. " _Quite hostile_...."

"Hahaha! Indeed, that's why I'm here to keep them calm for the rest of our school year!!" Renma laughed. "There's a lot of spiteful spirits lingering around so I bring some offerings to them... _don't want to have any spiritual incidents during our academy years now, do we?_ "

Ah, _speaking of spiritual haunting_. "Then can you do something about this possession thing going on in the music room?"

"A.... _possession case_...?" the medium looked genuinely surprised by it. "I thought I finally calmed them down but one must have slipped past my gaze... very well, I will see to it as well..."

"You're our classmates, right? That's why you came here to ask us that?" Both of us nodded as Kiharu swung her arms over our shoulders. "That's good!! Us classmates should always stick together at the very end!! Alright, _let's go forth towards our mystical mission!_ "

' _No way, I thought I was really going to die when that medium showed up_....'

* * *

The moment we saw Nara and Nao standing in front of a room, quietly huddling together, _we just knew it's the right music room this time_ , "Hey, we brought Renma here, what's the situation right now?"

"E-Eiichi!!" Nao squeaked. "H-Hibiki is in there with that possessed composer, she trying to keep him in there....!!"

"A composer.... _could it be_...." Sumire looked at the barely opened music room. Renma's already ahead and placed some sort of a charm against the doorway but midway through his chanting, he stopped all of the sudden, "What's wrong?"

"Strangely, the spirits that resided in this music room...." Renma narrowed his eyes. "... are _afraid of the man present_. Yet, this mad man they called him... _isn't being possessed by any spirits here_....."

" _T-Then it's a complete nutjob!? We sacrificed Hibiki for no reason!?_ " Nara shrieked out. " _Oh, poor soul, Hibiki, we will not forget your unwilling sacrifice!!_ "

"Here, hold, _Myou-chan_....." the investigator handed over the cat to the medium who began hissing at him non-stop. "I will go in and try to restrain him.... Eii-chan, can you help me as well? I could use your luck for this..."

' _She's really making use of my title, huh_.....' Nonetheless, I decided to follow her into the dark music room. From what I can make up in the darkness, there's a grand piano in the middle of the room which seemed to be surrounded by a bunch of marble statues, _something that might look like a ritual going on instead_.

Hibiki sat by the piano who quietly told us to speak in a low voice as to not agitate the said person who others claimed to be possessed. Frustrated by the absence of light in the room, I turned on the lighting in the room and was startled by its appearance, " _W-What the hell!?_ "

The room was vandalized.... _with what looks like to be bunch of scribbles of musical notes on the walls, ceilings and floor even with black marker_. With some smudges along with the writing, _it really looks like a ritual has taken place here_.

"Argh!? The lights-!!" A gruff-sounding voice was heard behind the piano and the person who I can assumed to be responsible for this mess came out from it, "You!! How dare you interrupt my concentration!? I was about to channel _Mozart_ 's wonderful momentum in the dark!!"

"They're your classmates like I told you before, _Sekiguchi_...." said Hibiki. " _And again, you're making us late for homeroom lessons_...."

"Do you think such mindless lessons could deterred me, _**Sekiguchi Amane**_ , the _**Ultimate Composer**_!?" This is going to be a handful one. "No! Never!! I will not be held back by such petty orders!! My artistic mind needed to be expressed and none shall stop me!!!"

"What are you-" Without any warning, the composer run towards the windows and literally jumped out of it. _We're on the third floor by the way_. " _Hey, did he just!?_ "

"H-He made a safe landing...?" Sumire was shockingly bewildered by the sudden escape. "Fuck it- _I'm going after him!!!_ "

"H-Hey, wait for!" I got ignored, the investigator already jumped down from the window to give chase as well. ' _Ahhh, I can't just ignore this!!_ '

"Everyone..!" I called out to the rest that's still waiting in the hallway. "If teacher ever asked, say that we're chasing after that composer guy who jumped out of the window!!"

" _ **He what now**_....." Kiharu and Nao stared dumbfounded while Renma just gave me that pity smile. The archaeologist got over that revelation really quickly, "Speaking of which, where is that teacher-"

_BOOM!_

A room that's two doors down from the music room suddenly exploded from the inside, letting out a huge white smoke that's seeping through its doors. Hibiki immediately went out of the music room, also alarmed by the sudden noise when we saw teacher, Higura and Homare stepping outside of the exploded room, stumbling around.

" _F-Fucking hell_....." Higura cursed as he coughs out. " _C-Can't believe they actually did it_..."

"Ahhhh, I don't want to file a damage report again...." our psychologist teacher sobbed on the floor.

"T-Teacher, pull yourself together!!" Homare doesn't seem to be too affected by _whatever just happened in that room_. And now that I inspected the room closer, _it's a chemistry lab_ , "Y-You two!! Take responsible for the damage you guys caused!!"

"Ehhh, but it's all in the name of science, ya' know!!" a lab coat-wearing figure removed her gas mask in one hand while holding a beaker, contained a brightly-colored liquid in it, in the other hand as she posed. "This is the most crucial work of the wild chemist beautician!! _I must concoct the most beautiful formula for the sake of the world!!_ "

"I-I thought you're going to make something for my airplane show....?"

"That too, _Sakyun!_ " She grinned at the wild red-haired with orange tips student behind her. "I wouldn't forget such an interesting offer!! _A colorful display for your aerobat performance!!!_ "

"Ah.... Eiichi...? I received a message from Machi that you've successfully collected those two at your part, thank you for the hardwork and effort....!" _Teacher is still facing the floor_. "L-Let me introduce you our wildest and energetic duo in the class..... _**Asami Mitsuru**_ , the _**Ultimate Cosmetologist**_ and _**Oozora Saku**_ , the _**Ultimate Aerobat**_...."

"Hm...." the cosmetologist stared right at me for a long time. "You're kinda plain, huh? Would you like for me to give you really wild colors to spice up your appearance!?"

"N-No thank you...." I would rather not be a subject of one of her experiments, _if that chemist beautician title really is real_. "Teacher, Sumi and I will go after the composer.... we already found Kiharu and Renma as well... that should be all, right....?"

" _Negative!!_ " Nara spoke up from behind. " _There should be two more people for Eii-chan to find!! **Yoshimune Taiga** and **Osame Hiroshi**!!_"

"How do you get that info?"

" _Nara hacked into the academy's database to get everyone's names and IDs!_ "

' _You gotta be kidding me_......' I sighed heavily. "Then I will be going after Sumire and Amane first so that we can continue searching for those two people left...."

And with that, I immediately left the commotion before anyone could even stop me..... _for the incident that the cosmetologist has caused_.

* * *

The music room's windows were all facing the dense forest, not that far from the shrine but it turned to be easy to find the investigator and composer; _I just listened for the sound of distress emitted from the composer alone and went for the source_. Sumire managed to hold him down but she isn't moving or anything, _she's pretty still_....

"Hey, you already got him?" I asked. "Then we should just head back-"

" _Shh!!_ " She sternly silenced me. " _There's someone else here_...."

"Someone-" I heard the bushes behind me rustled. I instinctively placed my hand near the pocket where my pocked knife is in. I can't pull it out now with composer, _a completely unrelated person of interest_ , is present. He will surely ask why I have such a dangerous weapon in possession.

"Yup... that might be him,...." for once, _Sumire looks really tired_. " _ **Yoshimune Taiga**_ , the _**Ultimate Marksman**_..... _always sneaking around, hunting for its little prey_...."

" _You know, your vast knowledge of people you haven't met before this is quite creepy_....."

"It's way more helpful if you know your people well..... _Watch out-!_ " Leaving the composer aside, Sumire pulled me down as someone tried to strike me from behind, " _You-!!_ "

"Whoa!! Now that's some quick-time reaction!!" Another voice boomed over me. "Alright then!! Let's dance some more, _shall we!?_ "

"You idiot, this isn't the time to-!!"

' _What's going on here, I really can't keep up with this_....' I lay down on the ground lifelessly, as I wish the earth's soil would just claim me there right now next to the composer who's struggling to get out of his bound. Slowly, I lifted my head and saw... _a small dot going down the academy's wall?_

That's weird, my vision isn't really deteriorating, right? I've gotten used to wearing fake prescription glasses so there's no a way my eye sight is worsening- " _No wait!!_ " I immediately lifted myself up once I inspected it closely. " _That's a person!?_ "

"What person?" _Oh wow, Sumire is losing the fight to the Ultimate Marksman_. Taiga had her under a headlock, "Oh! That's _Roshi_ testing out his equipment as usual!! He wanted to make sure his ropes are strong enough to stop him from falling this time!"

" _This time!?_ " I stood up right away. "How are you so sure-"

" _Ah, he landed_...."

_How fast!!_

True to what the marksman said before, I completely missed the whole lading thing and just saw a orange-haired student struggling to get out of his gear, waving from the distance, "Heya!! Did you see my trick just now!? Doesn't the make your heart _throbs_ , _excited_ and _become lively_ all at the same time!?"

 _I don't think he even said an actual sentence there_ , "Y-You're the _**Ultimate Abseiler**_..... right?"

"Yup, yup!!" he grinned. "I am _**Osame Hiroshi**_ , the _**Ultimate Abseiler**_! And I see you met a pal of mine, Taiga here! _Ossun, 'aiga!_ "

" _Ossun!! 'oshi!_ " Ah, _Kansai-ben_.

"A-Anyways!! You guys are the last students we're looking for!" I urgently told them before anything else could happened. "We should go back right now so that we can finally start homeroom!!"

" _Before you guys even ask why attendance matters here_...." Sumire recovered as she has both her grip on the other students. " _We've caused enough trouble for teacher so I suggest we should move out or else_....."

_Is that a threat that our teacher will punish them or she will punish them instead?_ But at least it works as they're frightened enough to not talk back this time. Sumire collected the composer as she carried him like a rice sack over her shoulder and the three of us follow suite.

* * *

" _We're back_...."

"Thank you for your hardwork and effort!" Everyone is already seated in the classroom and Hisao actually recovered his positive attitude. "You've caught a wild composer! _Good work indeed!_ "

" _Upsy-daisy_..." Sumire put down Amane as she removed his bindings, finally setting himself free. The composer stomped his way over to the seat next to Hibiki.

"Alright, everyone remained in your seat, please and thank you!" Both Sumire and I sat at the front of the classroom. "Let's see here... again, _welcome to **Yumeino Ultimate Academy For Elites**!_ An ultimate-based training campus to not only advanced your talents but for everyone to showcase their amazing skills to the public as well! That's the special assessment of this academy! _ **Each student must be involved at least one festival as a participant!**_ "

"Teacher, what if they chose to be in charge of the props making or even just advertising?" the graphic designer asked. Now that I think about it, _his talent does seemed a bit limited in this sort of events..?_

"Ehhh, it still counts but you will only earn a small amount of _**curriculum points**_...." the psychologist answered. "Which is why it's advisable to at least joined one of the events! If you have little to no idea what to do! _You can make a joint exhibition with other fellow Ultimates!_ Both sides will rewarded equally!"

I can hear Taiga and Hiroshi chatting excitedly from behind, I guess they were way ahead of us and have been practicing for it just now.

"However, make sure your exhibitions are at least following the academy's guidelines!" Hisao reminded. "Submit those proposal first to the student council who will review them first before sending them off one of the few companies that will help you set up your exhibitions! Make sure to behave yourself when around those big ones!"

Sumire is part of the Student Council and got given the title of the ' _treasurer_ '. Basically, she's in charge of finance and also looking through the budget of each proposals. All and all, this kind of event does made me kind of excited, even though I haven't planned anything-

"Since this is your first year here, the only applicable festival that will be held by the school is the _Cultural Festival!_ You can request the school to let you participate in any events held by other companies under them and they will do their best to secure a spot for you!"

_In November_. Only seven months away. I think that's enough for me to plan something at least. At least they're going easy on us for the first year. It doesn't seem like I'm going to have my hands tied that much during the first few months.

 _Maybe I should take this opportunity to snoop around the academy some more_.....

"By the way, Ms. Hanabusa.... will that bear and tiger follow you around the campus and not disturbed other students?"

"They have taken a liking towards me so I tried my best to keep them close at all times!"

"Good! As long as they don't cause any troubles, there should be nothing to be concerned about!"

 _He changed his mind about safety really fast_....

* * *

Time flew by really fast as I daydreamed most of the morning lessons. It's nothing worth paying attention, just some mundane knowledge. Agonizingly waiting till afternoon break finally arrives that I immediately left the classroom as I declined my classmates' offer to go to lunch together, _'Now then... shall I start with the computer lab? Or the archives? I must ask Nara first if she could distract the person-in-charge-'_

My thought process halted once I saw Sumire and Hisao discussing something with a serious look on their faces from a distant. The psychologist looks... _oddly off_. His cheerful demeanor is entirely taken off and what's present instead was this cold, brooding look he has here. The investigator doesn't look entirely different than him as well, _'What going on over there? Did they discovered something serious already?'_

It wasn't until they went into the guidance counselor's room that I immediately and sneakily followed them, the door wasn't shut entirely so I can actually peeked through it and eavesdropped on their conversation.

" _I'm impressed.... it's only the first day and you've discovered that much...._ "

" _It's not a great feat that I made, all the clue and evidences were sloppily hidden and I would be really embarrassed if I missed those things at first glance_...."

" _Those words greatly wounded me, Ms. Demon!_ " He laughed it off instead. " _However, I have no interest in playing along with **their demands** and **your play**. I tried my best not to get too involved_....."

" _I see.... so that cat got your tongue too, huh?_ " Sumire just nodded at that statement. " _So nothing else can change your mind of interest_...."

" _I may be a simple man but I do like myself a bit of a challenge so unless you can convince me otherwise.... **maybe I can play along with your little game**_...."

" _Look like the poison has finally seeped through!_ " The investigator giggles. " _I will be looking forward to work with you, Mr. Psychologist_...."

Sumire.... _already found out about something?_ That's way too fast. There's no way she would know that much on the first day already. Has she been researching about this case prior entering here and only when she got in that she confirmed her suspicions about certain things? Also, why is she having this discussion with teacher only-

I suddenly felt a tug on my school uniform from the back as I got dragged away from the room, I tried my best not to make too much noise until there's enough distance that's safe for me to yell, " _What was that for!?_ "

"It's rude for critter to be blocking the hallway without a reason...." It's the marine biologist from before, Amahiko Shoma. "Also.... ghost-whisperer wanted Eii to join us for a feast....!"

"Ghost whisperer....?" I looked behind and see Renma smiling down on me. "Y-Yeah sure... I was spacing out......"

For now.... _it's best if I asked Sumire about just now_.....


	4. III. New Ensemble Act III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A serious discussion from earlier turned out to be the biggest revelations for the lucky student and the hacker.

I spent the entire lunch break with Shoma and Renma, it was actually pretty fun hanging out with those two. Shoma gave us the nautilus as a sign of friendship and we ended up talking about our ultimate talents (of course I have to lie a lot) and how we got recognized.

Shoma's easygoing nature not only affect other people but other animals as well (he claimed himself). He said other ocean animals find it soothing and calm whenever they're around him and he was able to make a lot of breakthroughs that even lead to discovering a new species.

Renma's story was.... _terrifying_. As the only member of the family that can communicate directly to spirits, he offers his skill to anyone who wanted to talk to their deceased loved ones for reassurance or closure. _He even said he's the only vessel in the family who can survived through possession cases_.

It wasn't until Nara in the robot's body decided to dragged me away from the group, " _Ei-chan!! It's time to find Sumi and teacher for a very important discussion!!_ "

"H-Hey, Nara!?" _Don't go exposing stuffs like that!?_

"Ah.... does little machine need to discuss about festivals..... this critter doesn't want to work too hard or this critter's body will get dried up under the unforgiving sun....."

" _Yup! Yup!! Nara wanted to ask teacher about that and so I will be borrowing Ei-chan for a while, guys!! Sorry to interrupt your date-play!!_ "

"Shoma and Eiichi aren't exactly my type but thank you otherwise for seeing us as close friends...." Renma chuckles as he smiled and waved at me getting dragged away by Nara.

"Honestly, I wanted people here to at least treat me normally for once...." I whined.

" _What's this, what's this? Does the eccentric nature of other students affected Ei-chan's mentality that much? Then Nara would like to invite Ei-chan to a nearby fruit parlor shop that's extremely good!!_ "

"That's nice, Nara, but we can do that after we talked about the thing you mentioned about...." She didn't exactly said what she wanted to discuss either. "Hey, is it something serious....?"

" _Actually...! Nara received a message from Sumi that she needed the both of us in the counselor's office! Our attendance is urgent and if we don't get there, she will have to behead teacher instead!_ "

What kind of misplaced anger is that...?

* * *

" _Forgive our intrusion!!_ "

" _You went in already_....."

"Already so energetic, huh, Nara...." Hisao smiled as he seated in his desk. Sumire is already on one of the sofa that's against the wall, seemingly analyzing through a few records. "We apologized for calling you two out of the blue but _I'm in a tight pinch you see_...."

"...? _You're_ in a tight pinch, teacher?" That doesn't sound like a mistake..?

" _Teacher has been in contact with **a group** **who are related to the disappearance case**_...." Sumire replied without a beat while still looking through the papers. " _The group is could also be responsible for the absence of three instructors who are supposed to help us as well_....."

"Ah-ha! The news are out!" The psychologist chuckles. "I'm quite shocked myself, the secret got out that easily!"

" _Huh? Huh!? Sumi have found out about the culprit already!?_ " Nara marched over to the investigator's side as they jumped up and down. " _What is the meaning of this, Sumi!? How come Nara didn't know about this!? How could Sumi leave out Nara about this exciting development!?_ "

Sumi caught the small robot before they could hurt themselves, "If you used your talent, it will get traced back so _no, I will not let you get your hand on this one if you're too trigger-happy to use your talent_...."

"She's right, Nara...." I kneel besides the hacker. "There's a reason why such a group would go as far as to cover their tracks... if we just corner them like that, they will surely go into hiding...."

" _W-Well yeah!? Then how about this very moment- Huh!? The security cameras are all offline!?_ "

"That's my job!" Hisao remarked. "I made sure my place is a safe place for everyone here to report their findings and not be caught by any outsiders! This room is also soundproof so you can easily murder someone here!"

" _ **Teacher**_...."

" _Joking! Just joking around_!"

" _Hnnngg... fine, Nara will hold back from doing her work_...." She sounds really depressed about it. " _But Nara still wonders how Sumi find out about it that quickly.... does Sumi have psychic powers that could read everyone's minds?_ "

"It would be really fun to have guilty conscience of the culprits but unfortunately, I'm not that gifted..." the investigator sighed. "Also, _it's a matter of elimination_. There's only a certain group of people who would have _access to all students' information_ and _was able to monitor their and the academy's actions_ while _doing their malicious deeds away from public eye and keep the academy quiet possibly_.... but that's still speculation, of course!"

Elimination shouldn't be the only answer here, "It sounds like you've been working on this case before being scouted as an Ultimate student...."

"I know right? It sounds like I was born just for the sake of handling this case!" she exclaimed. "However, I do need some help from the both of you if possible.... Nara, while I'm highly against going straight ahead into enemy's territory, it's best to snoop around for any academy records that you might find interesting enough!"

" _Roger that!! Nara will do her best!_ "

"Ei-chan, _**you were awfully rude for eavesdropping earlier**_....." I flinched and she just smirked at that. "However, your presence is unmistakably well-hidden. Do try and mingle with others more so that we can pick up some rumors or gossips from others that we could use to investigate further...."

Both tasks are highly approachable, regarding our talents but... "What about you? It sounds like you're going to dump all the work onto us instead...."

"Oh, I will be doing work, alright! I just need to divide my focus as _a private investigator_ and _a student council member!_ " Sumire reassured us. "Teacher will be helping and guiding us along while keeping on-contact with _**the said dangerous group!**_ "

"Leave it to teacher! I will make sure nothing would interrupt our work flow!!" Teacher gave us a thumb-up. "Now then, about the records I gave, Sumire, what about it? Found anything useful from it?"

"... The records of certain thing does intrigued me a bit however...." She walked over the psychologist's side. We heard a clicking noise coming from her and without a warning.... _she set the records in her hand on fire_ , " _It's sort of useless_....."

"W-Wait a minute!? What are you doing!?" Teacher's panicking by the sudden change of mind. "T-Those are direct records of the potential group and could have been your lead!? Why are you setting them on fire!?"

" _I have no interests in **potentiality**_..." She glared right at him. "This is a no-miss case and we will get destroyed if we messed up. If we have to rely on ' ** _maybe_** ' or ' ** _possibility_** ' then we will be wasting our time...."

She throw away the still burning pieces into the bin, "If they have guts to send off threats like that than they should have guts to make a move one day. And just _one day, **they will accidentally slipped up** and we will catch them in the act_. For now... _I want to play with them a little bit longer until they screwed up!! I have nothing but high expectations for them though, I hope they can entertained me for a while..._ "

Ah, so this is the true side of the _Demonic Investigator_. But seeing it in person, it instead looks like _a rather active cat playing around with its prey until it gives up._ ' _ **This**... is what they're afraid of? I can't really see why-_'

" _The curtains caught ablaze!?_ " Nara pointed out the obvious danger in the room here. " _N-Nara will locate the nearest fire extinguisher!!_ "

"W-Wait, Nara!! There's one in the cabinet!!" The psychologist helped out the hacker in a hurry as the investigator look at the damage she caused.

" _Oh_..." She sounded surprised. " _I didn't expect for that to happened_....."

"..... _Your way of thinking is quite unique_...." I admitted myself. "But to be honest... _you're quite an idiot as well_..."

"I-I'm being picked on instead...." Sumire was taken back. "I-It can't be helped, even if we found out they're behind this, we don't really have the power to arrest them or so...."

Private Investigators are just info collectors, they don't have any rights to even arrest the suspected criminals like detectives do. They just send off what they can find and wait for others who would either make a move for an arrest or not, ' _Ah, I get it now. If she does that then there are chances they would just escape.... she need to publicly bring them out of their hiding and make sure they made a scene on purpose...._ '

_"Still... a flawed yet slightly acceptable way to approach this......"_

_"Fufu, it seems Ei-chan managed to catch on! That's a relief!!"_

_"I-If you two have time chatting over a burning property then Nara suggest helping teacher and Nara to put out the fire!!!"_

* * *

"We got scolded in the end....."

"This critter wonders why lucky friend and teacher set the room on fire...?"

"I'm sure it's an accident...." Renma told the biologist. "We're glad, however, you and the other three people were left unharmed by the blaze. We thought the incident would stopped at Mitsun _but it unfortunately continues it seems_....."

It's a free lesson afternoon and I decided to hang out with Renma and Shoma again at the outdoors garden as an apology for leaving all of the sudden. It doesn't really bother them that much as they were later joined by Hiroshi and Taiga after that.

"Still.... I've been thinking about this festival exhibition thing that teacher was talking about... have you two thought of one?"

"This critter will hold a joint exhibition with animal whisperer!!" Shoma claimed. "It will be held at a newly-opened underwater world so every land critters are free to see us perform...! It's is an outsider's festival that every critter can enjoy...!"

"I made a deal with Sumire to lend my spirits for her escape art..." Renma said so calmly. "I got to say, _her idea of an escape room where fear is your only fuel and desire to escape is intriguing_....."

Shoma have already made plans with Hinako to make an outside exhibition while Renma agreed to Sumire's idea for possibly the cultural festival. I wonder if others already planned it ahead as well..? It's also weird that the investigator wanted to work with a medium of all people..... I wonder what's with him and Machi's reaction to his name as well...? "Hey Ren.... do you and Macchan know each other?"

"Ah, yes..." Renma replied. "You see, Macchan used to be my cute little junior back when we went to the same school and he was quite a beauty back then! This time, I didn't recognized him almost entirely due to his rather stern soul...."

" _C-Cute_...?"

"But we've never had an encounter even once...." he laughed it off. "Figures he would escape from my gaze once he has heard of me...."

_Is Renma some sort of a troublemaker back then...? Also... about Shoma and Sumire as well...._

"Shoma, what about you? How do you know about Sumire?" I curiously asked.

"When this critter was very young..... the child of the star and the star itself visited the older generation of this critter..... the star's child and this critter used to play all sort of games together and this critter got called as a brother as well..!"

They're.... _play mates_ of some sort. I didn't expect for them to know each other way back then. "But it sounds like you guys haven't met for a long time now, right?"

"Alas, this critter and the star's child only met once after that...." Shoma sighed. "This critter has been waiting for a day to come ever since....!"

"It almost like fate brought everyone who met in the past to reunite in this academy...." Renma remarked. "As if we all were living in a tower that collapsed long ago as we were scattered along the regions.... _that reminds me_... I have to check the shrine again, _please excuse me_...."

"We will follow along...! Ei will also follow along right..?"

"Y-Yeah...." I am supposed to stay close to my classmates if anything goes wrong.... _I could even earned their trust easily through this as well_.

* * *

It's been a while since I've heard some kind of shrine work or chanting but _Renma really took his word about take care of the shrine really seriou_ s. Right now, the three of us are currently praying in front of the shrine for our classmates' good health and fortune as the final step.

"Hehe.... this critter never made such a offering... this critter worries that they have to offered up their body in the end....!"

" _That's a cult's way of offering, Shoma_....." I told him. "But I wonder why is there even a shrine near a school in the first place....?"

"If the spirits around here are telling me the truth....." Renma explained. "This shrine was constructed by a more spiritual person merely a few years ago for the promises of _strength_ and _luck_ , represented by the statues of the _bear_ and _tiger_ in front of the house...."

Oh, so that's what the statues are all about. Then was Hinako really lucky from the beginning?

"However this shrine later become a place where the students here pray for their safety due to the mysterious disappearance of other ultimate students, some even prayed for their friends' arrival....."

Grief and fear does wonder to anyone. This is actually the only time I heard anyone bringing it up during our first day here. The first-years seems to be oblivious to the ongoing tension while the second-years just looked at us with great concern. _I wonder how other instructors will watch over us_.....

"Ah...! This critter gotta go....!" The marine biologist went off in a hurry. "This critter's friends needed them for their daily intake of nutrients....!"

 _Must be his pets, hopefully not the same moray eels from before_.

Right when Shoma is completely out of our sight, Renma spoke up, "So what's your talent about, Ei-chan? You are a transfer student from Hope's Peak, right? How does your luck work?"

"H-Huh?" Guess I have to lie about it like last time. "W-Well, I have worked at certain places before but they always closed down or filed for bankruptcy right after I left so maybe my luck is about avoiding the worst possible situations? Although, it sounds like I bring bad luck to those people instead..."

"I see, I see.... I'm quite impressed how Hope's Peak managed to try and recruit people with such a loose talent like _luck_...." Renma remarked. ".... _And I'm more impressed they managed to recruit **a person with such a negative energy surrounding them**_....."

"....!"

"There spirits guiding me has been restless ever since your arrival here...." Renma explained. "I didn't believed it myself that such a single person would cause so much havoc in the afterlife until they became restless but _I will trust the voices of the undead and their judgement of you_...."

"W-Why would you trust them more than the living ones...?"

"Because _**they**_ have no reason to lie to me.... I helped them and I merely get something in return....." Renma smiled. "It's been a blessing since I've heard their voices, nothing could harmed me in any way anymore. I was able to communicate with all sorts of spirits that has ties with anyone standing in front of me... **_especially the spirit of a woman that's standing behind you as well_**..."

I reflexively turned around, trying to see someone else is there, as if he's just making me feel scared when it turns out there's just a living human behind us but _no one's there_. _And the woman he mentioned was_.....

".... _Kidding!_ " Renma chuckles as he stared at my face. "I'm just messing around! You seem to not learn your lesson from this morning...."

When we first encountered the _Ultimate Medium_ , "S-Seriously, Renma.... there's no way I can take that as a joke... not when you looked really serious about it for a moment there....."

"Hm...? If I'm serious or not? Well...." He just walked past me as he said, ".... _that's up to you and Sumire to decide now, is it?_ "

I felt shiver going down my spine when I heard that. I tried to hold myself back from pursuing him even further, trying to avoid getting too much attention this time. ' _This.... this isn't good.... if Renma really know that something's going on then....._ '

I patted on my pocket where the pocket knife is still in, ' _I got a choice here and I have to crafty about it..... but I need to talk to Sumire about this or else... she... seemed to know a thing or two about these sort of things....._ '

I feel my phone vibrating inside my other pocket, immediately taking it out as I read the sender, _'Speaking of the devil, there she is....'_. I opened up the message and this is all it reads; ' _By the way be wary of the people you trust_.....'

Did she make Nara hacked into my phone and eavesdropped on our conversation earlier? The timing between that terrifying confrontation and this message is way too close (and off as well, I could have used this warning a lot more earlier). But, _Sumire also appear to be aware of the situation here at the Ultimate Academy_ , _that someone else's willing to strayed us off the path we're going for_.

.................

.............

........

....

"Well then...." the investigator puts down her phone as she smiled to herself and her work. "All three curses are now placed onto those people, _I wonder how will they act?_ These trapped scenarios are crafted so carefully as their restraints... _I want to see their results._ _I can't wait!_ " 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eiichi: Finally some peace and quiet-  
> Sumire & Renma: lol nope
> 
> "Should we even trust Sumire at this point?"  
> To be fair, none of my charas are to be trusted at all.


	5. IV. Synchronal Act I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the end of April approaching and Golden Week in sight, the trio set their goal on a certain event that was threatened into cancellation with the help of their three other instructors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What up, I'm back with an arc update, the repairs were done in three days instead of a week and I'm,,,, hungry for more of the main cast' cute interactions before dwelling into some serious stuffs.  
> The last part of the update will be posted a bit later for minor tweaks.

**Eii-chan** > [ " _teacher should we discuss about our findings next week?_ " ]

 **Nararan**! > [ " _nara made sure to clear out their neighborhood for her physical appearance as well!!_ " ]

 **MafuHisa-Sensei** > [ " _sorry but since next week is golden week, i promised to spend more time with my son!_ (つ≧▽≦)つ " ]

**Mire-Oshi**! > [ " _??? teacher has a son???_ " ]

 **Eii-chan** > [ " _also teacher is a married man????_ " ]

 **Nararan**! > [ " _how young_ ヽ(°〇°)ﾉ " ]

 **MafuHisa-Sensei** > [ " _apologise to my wife!!!_ ヽ( `д´*)ノ _i would not let some indecent thoughts plagued everyone's image of her!!_ " ]

**_MafuHisa-Sensei_** _has sent 50+ photo attachments to the group_.

**MafuHisa-Sensei** > [ " _look at that!! aren't they the most perfect beings in the whole wide world!?_ ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡ " ]

* * *

"...." I just stared at the group chat as Nara kicked our teacher out of it in real-time. Without any hesitation, the hacker actually kicked him out with so much as a warning for spamming. That's the _fifth time_ she have done this month. " _Nara really doesn't have any patience_..."

"Huh? What was that?"

"Nothing, _Sakkun_...." I shoved my phone into my pocket. " _Just witnessed something cold-blooded_...."

"If it's about that hacker chick that _I can already imagined what she did_...." Higura sighed as he rolled around his pencil. "The instructors gave her too much freedom to do whatever the fuck she wants. Even if her specialty is invading people's digital privacy, it's still a shitty excuse for stealing shit from other!"

" _Language_...." Saku frowned. "But can't argue with that.... _her talent is way different from everyone else_.... by the way, _about teacher's advise yesterday_...."

"You mean _the academies' clubs_ or something?" Higura continued. "Yeah, I only joined the art club for those extra points. Can't see any use of my talent that much during the festival or anything...."

"I'm sure there is something else you can do-" A shiver just ran down my spine. "W-What the heck... _it happened again_...."

I swear this happened way too often whenever I hang out with these two. _And I swear to god, I hope it's not Renma spiritually watching over my movement or something_. I quickly turned around to see if there's anyone behind us, _but there's nobody_...

"H-Hey...." Higura and Saku turned their attention to my shaking voice. "Did you guys have a feeling that.... _someone's watching us right now?_ "

"It could be Renma's spirits...." Even Saku agreed with that possibility? "After all... _he literally asked them to watch over us_...."

"You guys are seriously buying his _bs_ spiritual talk?" Higura sighed. "That person is delusional to think he can communicate the dead, the only thing he can be proud of is scamming other people for having said _'talent'_.... _also, I'm pretty damn sure it's **that person** again_...."

The last sentence ended with a whisper. I wonder what he meant by _'that person'_?

"W-Well... it sure is a friendly ghost....." Saku laughed nervously. "Cleaning up stuffs when I wasn't looking or anything..... A-Anyways!! Back to the planning!! _The Sakura-viewing Get-along planning!!_ "

"Too damn long, can't you shorten it any more than that?" Higura grumbles. "Also what's with the attempt of ice-breaking? Everyone already knew each other and can work together easily. There's no use to make an outing like that..."

"Well, did you and Homare can at least talked to each other without throwing a glare every single time?" Saku watched as Higura flinched at that the mentioned name. "Thought so! Which is why I wanna planned something to remove some of the awkwardness still!! _Eii-chan_ , do you have any ideas what kind of games that would relieve tension?"

"Erm... I don't really have any ideas for the gathering...." Actually, I was dragged into this planning by the aerobat himself. "I'm not that good with ice-breaking games anyways...."

"Then...." Saku's head tilted sideways. " _How did you and Sumi get along?_ Nara seems to clicked with everyone but you and Sumi is kind of a weird duo that no one even think of.... _I also believe you were kind of bullied into being her friend as well_....."

" _I'm not that spineless_....." Weeks of pretending to be meek must have been the cause of that. "We're just roommates, we shared the same apartment so that's where our _'friendship'_ started....."

A pencil fell from the graphic designer's hand. " _ **You** live alone **with a girl**_ , _**just the two of you**? Nonetheless **with** **the child of Hoshino Iwao**?_"

" _Gura, don't say it like that!!_ " Saku hushed the person in front of him. "The students outside might heard that and rumors will start spreading!! You will immediately lose credibility if they traced that rumor back to you!!"

"S-Shut up!! It's not like I'm lying or anything!!" Higura shouted back. "This is some _bs_ that I wouldn't want to believed that a simpleton like this plain luckster could even be near that person the whole time!!"

_I know he just toned down his insults due to Saku being around but his words still cut deep_. "It's not like we're doing anything indecent behind doors..."

"We weren't thinking about that!!!" _**They were definitely thinking about that**_.

"Sumi offered a room and I accept, I am fending for myself after all..." that's not a lie at all. The investigator offered up her place for me to crash in whenever I want since she's rarely at home. In fact, she spend more of her time at her supposed mentor's workplace, _even sleep there_. "She's just that dedicated to her job...."

"So it's just like that....." Saku placed his chin onto the table. "I really thought something must have happened to make you land in that situation...."

Did I really make myself look weak? Points for me, I guess. "Why is Sumi such a big deal in this academy? She's just an Ultimate student like anyone else....." every time I hang out with her, I can just feel peering eyes from every direction we go.

"Her mentor is _**the Hoshino Iwao**_ , _one of the oldest Hope's Peak Academy alumnus that's still active in his field_. He has this huge impact in the crime field that during his peak years, the crime rates significantly dropped with amount of cases solved that barely took him a week to look into! _He can handle absolutely anything!!_ From petty love troubles to said expositions of conspiracies against the higher-ups!! _ **He's also the most ruthless person out there**_...."

_The bigger feline out there_. If Sumi is just a small cat playing around with her victim then this mentor of hers just mauled them out alive without a problem at all. But the way Saku tells it and Higura listening to it, they seem to admired that instead? "So it's just because her mentor that everyone become interested in her?"

"Not really..." Higura replied. " _We just didn't know such a guy even have a kid_.... doesn't strive to be a family-type if you asked me....."

"Yeah, her name suddenly appeared like.... _**eight years ago**_ on a news report?" Saku tries to remember back. "Even back then, people think it was just some copycat who used Iwao's name to be successful but once the great investigator confirmed it himself, _everyone collectively loses their shit!_ "

" _Language_...." the designer rolled his eyes back. "Yeah, that's the whole reason behind it. Even now, people wonders if she's just a by-product of a love affair gone wrong or something...."

"Or maybe she's one of the kidnapped people cases that he looked into by her deceased relatives!!" Saku theorized. "Like he takes her in as a parental figure instead!!"

" _What kind of noir-esque scenario are you thinking about?_ "

I won't lie, _I also find it strange_. That _Hoshino Iwao_ suddenly revealed to have a protege. Even with that, he didn't specify if it was just his student or a daughter that he kept from public view. I knew that the _Detective Kirigiri family_ have a daughter who's currently working for the Future Foundation, none of them kept that info a secret.

 _But_ _the Hoshino's reveal just came out at absolutely nowhere_.

"Well, it's nothing to be impressed about...." I declared. "She's nothing but a bothersome and really just all talk but not act- _Ackh!!_ "

" _Eh... so that's how you viewed me, huh, Ei-chan?_ " _Sp-Speaking of a devil!!_ The investigator was standing behind, for who know's how long, placing her hand onto my head while pushing it further down till my forehead touches the edge of the table. " _I'm kind of flatter really! And I thought I should be nice to you after the troubles I've put you through but hearing that made me want to do **something even more special**!_"

_She's going to put me through hell again-!!  
_

"Okay, lovebirds, we get it, you guys lived together...." Higura doesn't seem to realized the murderous aura that's present right now. " _Why are you here?_ "

"Right, I'm here to tell you about your proposal, Hirarin!" Sumire seemed to let go of me, _for now_. "Well, the confirmation came from your parents so you're free to proceed with promoting Amane's performance at the soiree!"

" _ **I would really like for them not to be involved for once**_...."

Right, his parents is well-known in the entertainment business. His mother is an actress while his father is a more of a late-night talk show host who's more popular with surprisingly younger demographic.

"I'm surprised Gura isn't popular here!!" Saku exclaimed. "With that much recognition, girls would have flocked towards you if it weren't for your nasty attitude!!"

" _ **Fucker, I will bury you alive**_...." Higura snapped back.

"Sorry but we have to agree with that statement..." Sumire and I said simultaneously.

" _No one asked for you two' opinion, shit-hoggers!!_ "

_He totally dropped that respective talk that quickly._

"Anyways, what's with the talk just now? It sounds like you guys were talking about me, right?" Sumire asked with a smile. "That's kind of invasive! A woman's privacy is more delicate than anything in the world!!"

 _'You're the one that's being invasive here...'_ is I wanted to say but I value my head staying on my shoulder.

"How did you take up that apprenticeship!?" Saku seemed to eager to know. "Like your mentor must have seen some serious potential within you to even get his attention!!"

"Ah, so you see me as mentor's little cub? I see!" She said while placing her hand on her cheek. "But too bad! I can't say really important things so willy-nilly! I don't have the energy to laid it out completely even! So I leave the imagination up to you all wonder!"

_The way that sentence was said; that's practically inviting disaster, isn't it?_

"So it's a no..." Higura sighed. "Don't know why that would work...."

"Clearly it did not!!" Sumire answered back. "I've heard from a cute bluebird that you three are planning a get-along gathering during _Hanami_? Best to make it mid-golden week, there will be a performance by the _Ultimate Traditional Dancer_ and _Ultimate Kabuki Actor_ that will be held at the _Enohi Recreational Park_..."

" _The theater park_ , they usually called it?" Saku confirmed the location once more. "That park is usually packed with performance and is easily crowded so I can't imagine we could even-"

" _Don't worry, I already reserved a spot for us!_ "

"A-Already!?" Hold on, _hold on!_ What is she planning here actually?

"Fufu, the _Ultimate Kabuki Actor_ was nice enough to reserved the best viewing of the performance as a gratitude for my approval..." she snickers. "Of course, the other leading performer also agreed to the idea after hearing it!"

_So she basically bargained for it._

"It would be nice to be exposed to a rare cultural arts, don't you think?" she hummed happily. "I think Kiharu and Hinako would really like them a lot! Now that I gave you an idea, time and place, it's time for me to be excused for a while!!" She cracks her knuckles with a wide smile, ".. _**I have a score to settle with Tai-chan**_...."

_'Oh, so she's still mad that she lost to Taiga when they first met....'_ we slowly watched as the investigator skipped her way out of the room, and it seemed she bumped into someone when we heard her made a noise of surprise. "..... _She's really easy-going_....."

"Again, not the image I would imagine for a protege....." they're still on about that? At least Saku is, Higura dropped it immediately. "She's kind of cute but rather too forceful. I wonder if she really took after Hoshino Iwao's skills in investigating...."

' _She's more hidden but direct and into web of connections_....' It's a risky move.

"Anyways! Since you guys are roommates!! Have you seen her-"

" _ **No, I absolutely did not**_....."

"I-I didn't even finish my question!!" _Oh, I know **what** you're gonna ask, Saku, and you're not getting it!_

A cheery 8-bit tune was heard in the room, Higura immediately took out his phone and barely glance over the screen before scowling, "I gotta go......."

"Really? Not attending the afternoon classes as well?" Saku watched as the designer stood up and walked away.

" _Save my ass later_ , if teacher don't want to hear the same excuse then he can send that complain to my family if he's brave enough to do it..." Higura waved his hand around. "Just text me later for any important details about the Sakura-viewing or some shit, _see ya'_......"

The graphic designer left, only leaving the lucky student and the aerobat in the same room after planning the gathering the entire day.

"It must be that serious, huh...." Saku sighed. " _Must be tough being the youngest in the family_...."

"Youngest? You mean he has an older sibling?" _Not that I know of_.

"No, he's the only child, _which explains his attitude a lot_...." Saku has to thrown that line in. "What I meant is he's the youngest child in the whole Mochizuki family line... or should I quote him, _the Tsuki-Zuki family line_..... you know, _that cutthroat family kind?_ "

"Ah, _I see_....." So Higura has trouble with other family members, got it. I did dwell on their affairs a bit, _what a mess_. No wonder Homare is kind of iffy about him, not that she's in the right to even act like that.

"Well, best not to talk about it or else he will cut off my tongue if he knew we're talking about his family behind his back!!" Saku clapped his hands together. "Now that our gathering is set! It's time to send off the details to everyone now!!"

"I will send it to Nara...." For some reason, Nara refused any contact with other people, _except for Sumi and I_. She blocked any communication outside of the academy, _so both of us became the middle-man for anyone who wanted to talk to her_.

"You three really stick together that much!!" Saku pointed out. "I'm kind of jealous!! Wish I had a mini-group of friends like that!! My teammates back then were really bound by contract that even our interactions are scripted!!"

" _I'm really sorry to hear that_....." And I really feel bad for hearing that in person. "But you seemed to get along with Higura really well, _despite your violent clashes_....."

"Even with Gura being rather stubborn to admit, he does shed a bit of that exterior and it's totally unexpected!! It's like watching a newly born lamb trying to walk for the first time!!"

Saku's like a wolf in a pack, he is charismatic who has no problem getting along with everyone else. _A lamb and the wolf_. ' _I really need to stop with the animal metaphors, I think Hinako's way of thinking has been infecting my mind...._ '

I felt my phone vibrating against my pocket, I took it out to received a private message from teacher, _'Come to my office, the other instructors have just arrived....'_

 _'The other three who we were supposed to meet from earlier this month....'_ They're really late, it's already almost the end of April. Just what on earth is taking them so long to even meet us?

* * *

"Teacher..... I'm coming in-" Uwah, the ambiance of the counsellor's room immediately dropped. Teacher even looked really down in his seat, staring at his feet while he rest his forehead on his hands. " _I-I'm here_....."

"Ah... Ei-chan... good to see you too....." His cheery tone is really gone. "You see..... I finally located those bothersome people and dragged their asses here..... but it seems.... we might have to wait a little bit......"

"D-Does Sumi and Nara know that they're here...?" I took the seat that's against the wall as I saw the psychologist's head shook in reply. "Aren't they kind of our guidance instructors as well?"

"No, no, that responsibility, _I found out_ , have fallen onto my shoulders, their schedule is entirely packed for the second-years....." the psychologist sighed. "Which means, not only I will have to take care of your class but I will also help you three with your findings, _regardless of the limitations placed on those tasks_...."

Doesn't that mean they're avoiding it entirely by focusing the second years...?

"S-Sorry to hear that, teacher....." He's really getting the end of everything we will do. "We will try to limit our resources as much as we could-"

" _ **We're back**!!!_" The door was swung open and hits the wall with a loud bang. A wild blue-haired person behind such vigorous action was holding multiple shopping bags as he approaches teacher, " _Hisa-chan! So you're still alive!!_ "

"It sounds like you're disappointed that I'm, in fact, _alive_...." Hisao seemed to be prepared for this. "So? What's your excuse this time? I'm waiting to hear whatever reason it is that will spew out of your mouth..."

"Please spare me the anger!!" This person is so dramatic, who the hell is he? "I am just honored to see the face of a man who managed to take control of one class all by himself for once! However, I must have not put my focus too much on your face!! _I, after all, dislike that face of an ageing man!_ "

" _I supposed you finally found the fountain of youth during your trip to Europe_...." Teacher's face is twitching in annoyance. "How wonderful _**but must you bring the other two with you and not inform me before the semester start?**_ "

"They must be dwell in the essence of youthfulness before they became all wrinkly and die off!!" The person finally noticed my presence once he turned around. "My, oh, my? Did you kidnapped another person to suck their youth out of them?"

"Why are you accusing me being the vampire here...?" Hisao rubbed the temple on his forehead. "This is _Oshiro Eiichi_ , the _Ultimate Lucky Student_..... Ei-chan, this is _**Nishida Fuji**_ , the ** _Former Ultimate Physician_** from Hope's Peak Academy....."

So he's just like teacher? They're both graduates and by the sound of it, they're former classmates as well.

"Indeed, I am the caretaker of every students' health here!!" Fuji exclaimed loudly. "But pay no mind to your own homeroom teacher's health as for his existence is no longer my problem!!!"

Without a doubt, this person is really grinding my gears already. " _Teacher, I get the idea already, may I please leave now?_ "

"Yes, you may...." if that wasn't enough, teacher secretly sent me a text pleading me to leave before anything else can happened. And before the physician could open his mouth, I bolted out of the room.

* * *

' _If Sumi or Nara was in my place instead, that person won't live to see another day_.....' Surprisingly, I'm glad that teacher is the one who's in-charge of our progress. We would have much preferred him other than the physician. ' _But there's the other two instructors... I wonder where could they be-_ '

There's a long-haired figure in a lab coat seemed the be wandering around the outdoors garden, _they could have been easily mistaken to be Renma's ghost_. "H-Hey!! _Are you lost!?_ "

"Huh...? Am I lost...? Is this _**Koyasu Ryuko**_ lost...?" Visible black bags resided under her grey eyes. "..... Yes, this person's indeed lost...."

' _She talked so slow_.....' Is she another instructor like that physician person? She doesn't look like she knows her way around the place. "I-I will help you out!! May I know your name, miss?"

"My name....." she muttered. " _ **Koyasu Ryuko**_ , the _**Former Ultimate**_ ** _Counselor_**...."

 _Counselor_ _?_ Then teacher's just an assistant or at least a stand-in until this person return from their trip? Also, for a counselor, she doesn't look so strict to me-

Suddenly a bright flash emitted from nowhere, "W-What the-!? What is it this time!?"

"Raising your voice against your instructor!?" Another weirdo popped out of the bushes with a pouting voice as she made her way over us. "How rude!! I merely wanna cashed in the hottest scoop this academy will ever receive! I wanna keep everyone updated to reality!! That's my job as the _ **Former Ultimate Journalist**_ , _**Ohori Haru**!!_"

"Haru.... this child here isn't used to be under the spotlight....and please don't publish such defamatory article with no back-up claims under the academy's name....." The counselor replied. "...My apologies, my child....."

"I-It's alright....." I almost got exposed here. "I'm one of the new students, _**Oshiro Eiichi**_ , the _**Ultimate Lucky Student**_......"

"I heard about that!!" Haru looked through the camera lenses. "You're one of the three students who transferred here from Hope's Peak!! That's a big news there!! But unfortunately, we're a few weeks late to report that it became old news already!! So we just gonna include your personal vendetta about the academy here for everyone to know!!"

_**Do these people know the meaning of secrecy here?** _

"Please ignore Haru.... she has no limit to her ignorance....." the counselor cuts in. ".... We apologized the trouble we caused towards Hisa and you three, _please accept our sincerest apologies_....."

" _N-No hard feelings_....." I really can't stay mad at these people for too long....

* * *

It's evening time but teacher called in Sumi, Nara and I one last time before leaving the academy. _And he made sure it's just us this time_.

"I apologized for not calling you all sooner.... I got.... _**trouble**_ to take care of...." teacher looked extremely tired compared to his state during afternoon. "And I'm fully aware everyone have met the other three instructors as well...."

" _Nara immediately ran away once the journalist caught sight of her!!_ " The hacker exclaimed. " _Nara figures Sumi did the same as well!_ "

"I threatened to release all her private information brokers' details to the public if she ever approached me....." she calmly sipped her green tea. " _It incredibly work_...."

"Again, I apologized for the trouble our staff has caused you all...." Hisao bowed once more. "However this meeting will not only be conducted by me but as well as the **_Former Ultimate Counsellor_** herself, _**Koyasu Ryuko**_....."

The woman I met earlier before running off and getting protected by Machi and Taiga, thankfully. "Where is she now? Is she on her way?"

Without a word, the psychologist made his way over the closed cabinet that's in front of the sofa that Sumi's on. He kicked the lower compartment two times before it opened up and the counselor rolled out of her hiding, " _No, she's actually here_...."

"Y-You just kicked her out......" I'm more worried about her well-being now. "M-Ms. Koyasu... are you okay?"

"Mhn, is _Koyasu Haruko_ okay...?" she slowly sat up. "..... No, _Ms. Koyasu Haruko is not okay_......"

"How long has she been in that cabinet for? Since this afternoon?" Sumire set down her tea and went to check on the counselor.

"Turns out _she never left the academy with the other two all this time_....." Hisao scratched the back of his neck. "She has been hiding in random storage compartments in the academy so _we didn't know she was still here since the semester started_....."

How- _I'm actually going to give up before I even managed to get one question out_. "Then.... that means she overheard everything we talked about earlier this month...."

"That's right.... as a counselor, it's _Koyasu Ryuko_ 's duty to guide people in the right direction...." she made her way slowly to the desk as she sat straight. ".... I fully understand your position here in the Yumeino Ultimate Academy.... I will do my best to provide my guidance... _ **I will make sure there will be nothing of sort that would be a hindrance towards everyone involved in this cas** **e**_....."

Her slow and low voice tone did make her statement more clear. It really got my attention, even her expression which morphed into something more serious made me think she isn't saying that with a slacking personality. Is this what the _Former Ultimate_ _Counselor_ really all about?

"...... _tired_....." Ryuko poured herself a cup of scorching hot tea before downing it in one go. "...... _too hot_...."

 _Well, the effect is still there_. "I appreciate the help you offered to us but I want to confirm one thing before we went on with our investigation. _Is it true you left all the devices to our homeroom teacher to watch over us?_ If so, then it's a selfish move to have one person being in-charge while other instructors went off to do other minimal tasks....."

Sumire seemed to be interesting in what I said, of course, she wasn't present earlier so it's all new to her and Nara. Actually, _Nara has been really quiet for some reason_ , "If so, please, we need the cooperation of other instructors as much as possible. That's the promise we were given by _**Hope's Peak**_ and _**Future Foundation**_....."

"..... _You're very bold to throw in those big names like it's nothing_....." the counselor hummed at my demands. "Very well, I apologized for our tardiness. I have a moment of weakness, you see, if I have no motivation at all, my mind and body has been reduced to jello. But placing us in the same position as the other two reignited that motivation I once lost so you fully have my support.... I will pass over the message to the others as well...."

"Oh, someone's acting all grown-up now!" Hisao playfully messed up my hair. "Just a few weeks ago, you were on a verge of tears while dealing with your classmates and now you're talking down on the adult in the same room!!"

' _Sumi would have done it as well and she might go even further than that_.....' I took a glance at the investigator who's just enjoying herself with a small smile on her face. ' _She's strangely obedient this time.... what's the catch here...._ '

" _Nara's back!!_ " The miniature cat robot sprung back to life. " _Nara apologized! It took Nara a long time to gather information that Sumi scattered across the school network!! The encryption methods used are highly deadly and Nara's afraid she would get it wrong or else this robot will be send to its early grave!!_ "

"Good work, Nara...." Sumire finally spoke up. "With that amount of time and skills, you can definitely caught up with the culprits' plan easily....."

"You're just testing her ability? She doesn't need that much risk to her.... _physical being_....." Nara already told us it cost a fortune for her to make the _Ultimate Roboticist_ to invent a new robot for her.

"I understand that her robot self is quite costly...." Sumire replied. " _Which is why I instead direct that threat towards her real life body somewhere in her_ _neighborhood_...."

 _It's a different body target!?_ "H-How did you know if it's her though..."

The investigator glared at me, " _ **Just who do you think bailed her out of her sentence to attend here?**_ "

_Was Nara even supposed to be involved in this case then?!_

" _Children... please settle down....._ " the counselor warned us. "Ms. Hoshino, I understand your methods are the absolute way to guarantee success but do refrained from causing more harm than needed..... _I understand your position here as Iwao's successor_...."

 _That tittle again_. The investigator just stared at the woman with no interest at all. She doesn't react to it at all. "I will keep the damage by minimal... I have a hand in other cases that needed my attention as well so I trust this case to be under your guidance during my absence. I may have to drop in time-to-time to provide little info I got from outside sources...."

" _Outside sources such as?_ " Nara asked.

Sumire smirked as she continued, "The upcoming performance by the _**Ultimate Traditional Dancer**_ and _ **Ultimate Kabuki Actor**_.... _was rumored to be cancelled by force due to an outside threat that could potentially **hurt the performers if they still go on with it**_....."

"Is it possible it was a threat by one of the potential culprits....?" it was the counselor's turn to ask.

"Not _**potentially**_ , but _**definitely**_....." Sumire declared. "Now, _**wouldn't it be fun if we make a lock box scenario which forces that person out and reveal themselves? I've been dying to meet this bastard for troubling everyone with such pettiness!"**_

......

Maybe I wasn't too far off, maybe I was in the right to see her as a rather menacing Cheshire cat. _A truly sadistic Cheshire cat who wanted to play with their victims till they fall dead by their feet_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eiichi: Can I have one(1) normal interaction here in this academy?  
> Instructors: yes but also no
> 
> -
> 
> "Wow, they're really wild. The other students were tamed compared to them..."  
> Oh no.... It gets Worst™


	6. V. Synchronal Act II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After such a close-call of getting caught, Eiichi was later saved by an unlikely spectator who promises to not get too involved in their case.

**osakkun** > [ " _can't reach shoma or hinako phone! anyone please pass over the details about the sakura viewing gathering to them! thank you!_ " ]

* * *

The aerobat sent that message to the class's group chat and Nara immediately privately text me the coordinates of those two's whereabouts. And since I'm the only one who knows where they are now, I decided to went on with it. They're at the biology room which seems right for now. I stood in front of the said science lab before saying my greeting and entering, "Sorry for the interup-"

" _Ah!! That surprised this critter!!_ " Something just scattered on the floor. It's.... _a red liquid with metallic smell_. "It's Eii-chan.... _why is the luckster_ _here_....?"

"Could it be you're reporting a disturbance happening in this lab?" The serene voice of the behaviorist was heard. "Worry not! We have permission from teacher to conduct our experiment of studying the insides of a deceased animal!"

"I-I see...." _I'm glad it's just an animal_. "Both of you didn't respond the group's messages so I went to look for you two...."

"I read them out loud for Shoma here...." she smiled as she showed off her phone. "I merely waited for his personal reply to text later since Shoma's in-charge of the dissection here!"

"Hehehe.... _the way the scalpel danced around the stomach cleanly with one slash is therapeutic_...!" Shoma swayed from side-to-side. "This critter and animal whisperer will definitely be present at the land critter's spring festival.... we won't swim away from such festivity!!"

"That's good to hear....." They seemed to be dissecting a frog instead. How much blood did they really spill from one specimen.... _and is it only from the animal? I hoped so_. "T-Then I will be leaving you two to your own.... _work_...."

"Ah!! One more thing, luckster!!" Shoma dropped the scalpel immediately and search through the cabinet filled with small glass bottles until he picked up one. "The colorful puffer fish requested this critter this certain bodily substance and I hoped luckster would be kind enough to give it to her!"

"Puffer fish...?"

"He meant _Mitsun_...."

" _Oh_...." Now I see the connection. "Got it, but it will take a while to find her. Got any ideas?"

"She seemed to used most of her time inside the chemistry room that blew during the first week of this month..." Hinako suggested. "Mitsun seemed to be making another formula for her project so our best guess is that she's concocting one in _that lab_ right now!"

......

" _Shoma, please hand me that gas mask over there_...." The biologist tossed me the said item at my direction. "Thank you, good luck you two!"

......

* * *

' _Here is it_.....' I silently psyched myself, standing in front of the chemistry lab with the gas mask in my hands. ' _Here goes nothing!_ '

"Excuse me!!" With the gas mask covering my face, I immediately enter the lab in a hurry, expecting some explosions or even any funny aroma in the air. Surprisingly, today's experiment is more tamed.... or actually, _it's a treatment being done instead_.

"Ah! Ei-chan!! What's with the funny mask?" Mitsuru stared at me dumbfounded, as she seemed to be peeling some sort of mask from Machi's face. "Is there an event going around or something?"

"No, no, I was preparing for the worst here...." I placed the mask somewhere nearby. With relief, I pulled out the small bottle that I got from the biologist earlier, "Shoma asked me to deliver this thing while I'm making rounds here...."

"Ah! It's that fish belly oil that I asked for!! Thank you!!" Mitsuru grabbed it from my hand quickly. "I've been waiting for a week and finally it's here!! I'm gonna make the most purest of formula out there!! _It will be a plus alpha beauty!!_ "

"You're here just to deliver stuff?" Machi asked, not moving from his place.

"Yeah.... but I would also like to know how Mitsuru is even allowed to use this lab again but _I guess it's not a big deal_...." I'm kind of getting used to some absurd things happening here in this academy. But now I have to get used to some newer people as well-

" _I have heard the calling of youth from outside the boundary!!_ " Oh no, it's the physician- "I heard that this is the nesting place of the _**Ultimate Cosmetologist**_ 's treatment!! I may not reserved a spot but my own beauty progression can't be delayed!!"

"Geh-!? It's you!?" Machi immediately sat up once he heard Fuji's voice. "Why are you here!?"

"Oh my, oh my? I have recognized that beautiful face from anywhere!! It's another sibling of _Yokoda_ , isn't it? Another beauty has been born into the family as well!!" the physician exclaimed. "I'm honored, another healthy-looking newborn graced this academy as well!!"

"I'm not another new sibling, you idiot!! I'm _Macchan_ , remember!?"

"Of course, I'm just messing with you!!" the physician laughed. "There's no way I won't forget about my junior during my temporary modelling career!!"

"Huh? You were a model before?" I asked the librarian.

"I-It's only for one magazine.... my sister got sick and they were panicking to find a replacement so they scouted me out when I was just at the studio telling them about her absence....." Machi sighed, " _The life of a gravure model is so exhausting_...."

If I recalled, Machi's two sisters are a gravure model and an underground idol respectively, with strangely high popularity compared to any ordinary ones out there. They're very close as well from what I've heard... _from the interviews that his sisters are in_.

"Indeed, such a wondrous family! How I wish to be born into it as well!! Perhaps I may plan my demise sooner to make it happened!!" the physician exclaimed. "But that can wait!! I wanna have my face smoothed for now!"

"That's a strange shift but please clean your face first before I could begin..." Mitsuru just nodded while holding some kind of device in her hand. "Your face looks kind of unique so please keep in mind I'm going to try out some newer ingredients to see its effects!!"

"I'm happy to be your guinea pig for the next revolution of beauty!!"

_Amazing_ , I haven't seen this kind of conversation flow so easily before. Mitsuru easily counterbalance his annoying attitude with even more insane statement that it just came out so naturally. Also she managed to distract him so _thank you, Mitsuru!!_ I will now make my escape!!

"You said you're here because of Shoma, right?" Machi stopped me before I can leave. "Did you told them about the gathering?"

"Ah, yes, I did! Hinako was also there with him so thankfully, they got the message and said they won't skip out..." I answered. "But from what Sumi said a few days ago.... I think she has to skip out on this one to help out at her workplace........."

" _Again?_ " the librarian grumbled. "I get she's an investigator but aren't there anyone else they could hired instead? This is the eight time she disappeared this month....."

To be honest, Nara and I also got frustrated by the clashing schedule, it's like this disappearance case isn't their top priority right now. "If she finished it on time then she will try to come...."

" _ **Don't**_ , the last time she did that, I found her collapsed at the school's garden and I have to take her to the nurse...." Machi referred to the time Sumire was working on a case for five days without even taking a break. "And this is a huge gathering, she might get more exhausted instead....."

"She appreciate the concern _but you know how she's like by now_...." If there's energy left within her, she's going to set her mind into it no matter what. "I will try to stop her if I can...... _but if I ended up in a hospital, you're going to be my first emergency call_...."

"I got pretty good defenses so I dare you to try that...." He's joking, he will still visit anyways. "It's better than visiting that composer bastard and Roshi who keeps landed themselves in the emergency ward....."

"I will be leaving now, have to make rounds for an errand!"

An errand left for me... _by Hoshino Sumire, of course_.

* * *

Sumire left some work for me to do, _if I could even call it that_. There some files she collected that's currently placed in the student council's room for safe-keeping but she also left it for Nara and I to collect for a review.

Nara's busy..... _somewhere_. So I'm the only one who's available.

_The Student Council_ is really strict even with teacher's permission (the psychologist is absent for the day, he's starting to appear less now that the other instructors returned). _So I have to be crafty about it_. ' _First we start this with **the event**_......' The hallway is crowded since it's the afternoon break. There are tons of students who just got back from their facilities, working on their personal projects.

From afar, I can see the _Ultimate Engineer_ , our senior, approaching my way with a spanner loosely placed inside his pocket. With perfect timing, I managed to steal it right under his nose without anyone noticing, ' _Sorry, senior.... next is **the cause**_.....'

No one ever wandered into the electrical facility of the academy, and with a certain jammer device in my hand, I can easily disable all cameras within my radius. After a slight changes to the system, I jammed the spanner in the electrical box, ' _With that done... next is **the result**_....'

The lights down the hallway have started acting up, with sparks flying out almost hitting the students below them as they quickly left the place in a hurry with a panicked expression, ' _They're fast... finally..... it's **the confrontation**....._'

With the commotion happening, I keep up with my act as I knocked on the student council's room, say my greeting and then opened the door, "E-Excuse me? The hallway lights are releasing sparks, there might be a faulty...?"

"What!?" It's only the president present in the room. "I can't believe this.... I will see to that problem immediately!!"

Without even thinking, the president leave the council room completely without so much as to ask me about the malfunctioning lights. ' _Good, now that all the cameras in the room are disabled, it's time to find that thing_...'

Everything is all tidied up as it should be for the representatives of the Ultimate Academy, and each members of the student council have their own working space so I started searching through the treasury's desk for the info that the investigator left. ' _I will hide underneath desk if that person came back earlier_....'

"Found it...." It's a brown envelope with a pink dot on the top left. It's another way for the investigator to marked really important things for us to recognized it. "With that done, it's time for-"

" _Finally done with it_...." Suddenly, the student council president entered the room and I have no choice but to hide behind the desk, silently curse for returning so early. She's standing in front of the door, "Why the hell would it blew a fuse in the middle of the day.... perhaps that student earlier made a mistake or something...."

_'Blew a fuse? A mistake? Did someone interfered or something?'_ I clearly made it look like it was tampered with. ' _What's going on?_ '

"Pardon for my interruption..." Another familiar voice joined in. "President, the repairmen is here for further assessment... it's best to be present as our representative....."

"R-Right!! I was trying to calm myself down!! Sorry!!"

She ran out of the room and I almost let out a sigh of relief. ' _Only one person gone, now for the other one... but that voice... sounds familiar-_ '

" _ **Found you**_...." Once this mysterious person who just entered the room suddenly appeared in my line of vision acting all innocent, it suddenly clicked. "That was a close one, isn't it, _Eii-chan?_ _You made such a mess over a small thing_..."

"R-Renma....." this medium is seriously going to be the death of me. "H-How did you know that I'm here....?"

"The ghostly woman that's been following you since asked me to come to your aid..." Renma smiled. "As well as Sumire asking me personally to keep an eye on you....."

' _Sumire did...? I thought she told me not to trust anyone too willingly so why did she asked Renma that...?_ ' The medium offered up his hand as I took it, he pulled me out of the table and urged me to leave the room before the student council president returns quickly.

Making sure the hallway is all cleared-up, Renma and I made our escape down a different route to the shrine.

* * *

"It's best to pray away your sins for absolute fortune..." Renma chanted a prayer right before he said that. " _Children who do bad things will ended up be greeted by the locked doors of heaven_...."

" _Then I'm not going to heaven if that's the case_....." I clapped my hands twice to end my prayer. "So, what's the deal between you and Sumi? I didn't expect you two to be close after a festival planning....."

" _We're dating_..."

" _That's a lie!_ "

"Indeed, but the spirits surrounding her predicts a fortunate love connection right by her side!" Renma smiled as he placed an incense in front of the shrine. "It would be interesting to find out who that person be...."

"It's going to be a long wait for that to happen.." she's not the type to be into romance as well. "Back to the main question, what did Sumi told you to do?"

"Ah, nothing important, she merely wants me to watch over you like any other ordinary big brother!" Renma confessed. "I, unfortunately, not allowed to cause any more trouble after that incident so I valiantly offer up my spiritual services to you, free-of-charge!"

" _What kind of spiritual services?_ "

"Contacting a lost-loved ones to cursing a vengeful spirit in hell through the gatekeepers themselves, anything is possible when you have a strong medium that could do such thing!" _I'm very worry about Renma sometimes_.

"..... _You know we're not normal people, right?_ " Then again, Ultimate students are not really normal either. Gifted children can be also dangerous and scary if they cultivate their talents into something more horrific. "..... Why should I trust Sumi's words alone about you....?"

"I understand the situation behind your responsibility as representative of _Hope's Peak_ themselves...." Renma explained. "Yet I could not oversee a more terrible fate that the spirits here has been _restless_.... _the spirits of the deceased are rooting for you three but also are fearful of what's to come at the same time_...."

"....!? Doesn't that mean!?" _Renma has been in contact with the deceased spirits from the disappearance case_. "Then can you get any info out of them!? What happened to them and who were they taken by!?"

"Human spirits, once they're deceased, could not recalled back their last moment due to trauma.... it would take a while but even if they do, _they would recommend you three to turn away from this case right now_...." Renma frowned. "I was almost blind-sighted by possible justice for the restless spirits still residing here but if everyone has to get hurt because of it then _I wouldn't care if this important case turned cold at all_..."

_There's a catch in everything_ , I didn't expect there would be catch that could involved everyone else in this academy as well. Did.... _Renma told Sumi about this as well?_ Is that why she's including him in our group as well? But... _how much of it is the truth really_....?

"My words must have troubled you to be silent, I apologized but it must be said just as the investigator requested me to do....." Renma exclaimed. "I did my best to save you some trouble so I merely made the marksman to make it seemed your doing was due to a simple electric overload...."

"Oh, that was you and Taiga....?" I knew it was something else. "Thank you, but I got everything under control...."

"While _Sumi is arrogant_ and _Nara is ignorant_.... _you're entirely reckless_....." the medium pointed out. "Your methods are highly direct and need to be pointing at faults so do be careful in the near future. I will be waiting by the sidelines to be used for any spiritual connections! If you want to, you can ask Nao to forged any documents you need to get into the student council...."

"...! How did you know about that?" I didn't know the ghostwriter would even dare to do such a thing.

" _I have gotten myself to know every spiritual abilities that my classmates possessed_...." Renma smiled eerily. "For my own personal reference that is! It's best to get to know your allies and enemies before making your move like you're supposed to, right, _Eiichi_?"

It still doesn't matter if the medium swears to not get too involved in it; his way of promising things doesn't leave anyone in peace, it just made them really terrified instead. Renma has everything, that's not physical, under his disposal to use against someone he doesn't like, I couldn't imagine him obediently listening to Sumire if he gets too into the case.

"I still don't trust your words for it.... but.... I will be under your care then, Renma...." I bowed. "I will still be keeping an eye on you _so don't go over the line or else_....."

"Understood, I will keep my own curiosity at bay... but do pardon my own feelings towards the case.... _no one wants to get involved unknowingly, to only end in a horrible demise either_....." Renma answered.

And he's right about that, _ **no one wants to get involved in it at all**_.

* * *

" _Pardon my intrusion_....." With the day coming to close, teacher called me to the counselor's room once again. It's only Nara and I being called to, Sumire will be absent for a few days, starting from _Golden Week_. "Teacher, Nara and I are here...."

" _Nara is all charged-up for another discussion!!_ " The robot in my arms flail around. " _Nara's prepared to soak up every information that teacher has to say!!_ "

"No... this is just another review before our gathering at the Sakura-viewing Festival...." the psychologist didn't move his attention away from the paper in his hand. "Just need to confirm some things before we could even proceed with the gathering... also, the other three instructors will be present at the festival for safety purposes....."

" _I see_...." As long as they not causing enough disturbance so far, it's fine. "But there's no other changes, right? Only those three?"

"Also!!" Hisao grinned at us. "My wife and son will be there as well! They would love to meet you all wonderful bastards who caused me nothing but hell since this semester started!!"

' _There he goes again about his family_....' "But what about the performance, will it proceed as usual?"

"Ah, yes! It will!! The two students will keep in mind of any suspicious activities at the backstage just in case...." said the psychologist. "I'm getting worried if this is one of the tactics that the culprits are using to tarnish the companies' reputation under the academy's name.... _who knows what they will exposed or what they're trying to gain_....."

" _Nara wonders how did the students before disappeared without a trace?_ " the hacker asked. " _Weren't there any witnesses around?_ "

"They got to them when they're alone but we do noticed some significant trends behind their disappearance...." Hisao continued. "Their public display of work and performance always got delayed, postponed or even cancelled while the other students' ran theirs smoothly. _The reason behind it is always due to technical difficulties but nothing turned up during the maintenance check_...."

So this time, the students got threatened directly to cancel their event. If this is truly the work of those culprits then we might caught them in the act at the festival. Sumire must have planned to have everyone attend at the festival to be their witnesses. "Even so, we can't be sure if it's really them or just their lackey..... _that's the issue here_...."

"I do have direct confrontation with them from time to time....." the psychologist gritted his teeth. "But I will be in serious trouble if I can't cover up their lackey's failure or even made a mistake along the way....."

That's right, teacher is being our middle man as well. While also helping us, he's helping the supposed culprits as well. _Teacher really is going to do this just to catch them_.

" _Teacher!! Nara wonders if the surveillance at the festival is accessible enough for her to see through!!_ "

"Of course there are!! I made sure they're plenty of them scattered among the area for easy recordings!!"

"W-Wouldn't the guests be too overly cautious if there's that many of them.....?" I can't help but thinking about Renma's words from before. It sounds like only Sumi allowed to him to understand the details behind this case so I'm not sure how Nara and teacher feel about this at all. _Well, it doesn't matter_.

If he got found out then Sumi is to be blamed here, not me, "What about everyone's positions? Nara easily have eyes all over the area but I can't stay away from others for too long.... Sumi wouldn't be there as well...."

"Hm? She got another case to do?" teacher asked as Nara replied with a nod. "Sheesh... she sure has a busy life if she's taking weeks off from the academy.... I wonder if we will really be fine without her around...."

" _Nara wanted to know if her private workplace is that insufficient in numbers?_ " the hacker wonders. " _If it's only Sumire and her mentor then it would explained a lot!_ "

"No, she mentioned about other people in her workplace...." Did they just dumped the harder cases onto her? That's the fucking worst if they did. "Would be nice if we have info about this workplace of hers...."

"The scouts-man tried to visit once but their security is really tight and one misstep would literally killed him on the spot...." said the psychologist. "So Sumire has to be recruited once she goes outside of her workplace. Strange enough, her mentor doesn't allowed any outsiders unless it's something important or you're an important figure to the public or something similar to that...."

_Those requirements are too high! Even for filing in a simple case!!_

"I've always wanted to meet Investigator Iwao...." just to take a quick glance of their lifestyle, how much of their environment must have impacted the Hoshino duo that turned them into ruthless people. "But I guess I have to came up with an excuse if it's like that....."

"You will definitely get injured though?" teacher reminded me. "Anyways, that's all there is to it for the planning. Both of you are free to go!! Class dismissed!"

" _Yay!! Nara can finally watched her favorite shows all day until morning!! Sleeping in till more work flows in for easy money!!_ " the hacker cheered. I set the robot down as we watched them stumbled out of the room with its stubbed feet.

"Even though she's the most skilled hacker out there... she's still does things as low as that...." I muttered under my breath but teacher must have caught that.

"Huh? But Ei-chan, aren't you the same as well?" the psychologist asked. "You are one of those people who changes all the time. Switching sides like it's nothing and once you're done with them, you discarded them altogether...."

"Yes, _but that's expected of me_....." I explained. "And it's the same for everyone else. People change whenever they feel like it. If I changed my uselessness into something more interesting, no doubt I will attract more attention than needed. _And it feels unnecessary for me so I won't change_....."

"Sumi, Nara and Ei-chan all have rather dangerous professions at young age... which made the instructors here worried about you guys a lot...." _Taiga actually has the most dangerous talent here_. "Ultimate students or not, do ask for help from your beloved instructors!"

"What about teacher? You're facing a direct threat as well and teacher also have a family to take care of....." I asked him. "We're more worried about teacher's well-being than ours-"

"We're strong!! Do not doubt us at all!!" he puffed out his chest. "It turns out we're pretty similar! I rather not take sides as well! Things can get really boring if it's like that. If I managed to juggle two sides at the same time then anything can be possible. I'm neither open to suggestions to take them down directly nor allowing them to do whatever they want... what I'm following here is my own curiosity!"

' _Following his gut? Teacher's way of thinking is really dangerous_....'

"Please do not fret over your teacher here!" Hisao smiled. "I merely offered myself up as a pedestal for his students to succeed! If it helps to achieve a more satisfying result for everyone then I will do whatever it take to fulfilled that! Even if I have to die for it!"

"Teacher, _you don't have to say that last line there_....." teacher's sacrifice would be unnecessary as well. If anything at all, they would have just asked me to die if I got caught instead. _That's all my purpose here_.... just another actor placed in this scheme, "I will be taking my leave as well, teacher. _Please take care of yourself_....."

' _Renma and Hisao both have opposing ideals. We don't want anyone to get hurt during this case but if a sacrifice is necessary in order to progress further..... and Sumi took both of their sides as well, what was she thinking? **I'm**.... **at lost here**... _

_I don't know what to do, it's like my leash got removed while I wasn't looking and I don't have any more directions to go from here.... **what am I expected to do here exactly**...?_'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let this sink in; Renma knew they're going to be involved in something dangerous but the main story still happened so he does have some indirect causes in it.  
> Also.... Eiichi daily communication with his friends involving witness some wildest stuffs and asked absolutely no questions about it because they're just like that.


	7. VI. Synchronal Act III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day of the Sakura-viewing gathering has begun, will they catch the culprit in the act....?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Or by their appropriate subtitle; their first outing and stuffs just keep happening out of nowhere.
> 
> \- 
> 
> I usually post updates on [twitter](https://twitter.com/dr_mdst) since there's an account dedicated to this series! So give a follow if you want some heads-up or updates on the next chapter or project!!

**Mire-Oshi**! > [ " _sorry, something came up..._ " ]

 **Mire-Oshi**! > [ " _i will pay for everyone's tea time once Golden Week ended, got another business to take care of..._ " ]

* * *

"I see, so this is what a messenger looked like...." Right before we gathered at the spring festival, Renma thought it would be a perfect time to ask me how to use a smartphone and other things. As someone who lived in a remote village, away from the city, he has no knowledge about any electrical appliances at all while living with a family of strict traditions.

He also received the said smartphone from Amane who requested him to get rid of it by nailing it to the tree first then perform an exorcism just because the composer accidentally read one critique of his work.

Thankfully, Renma didn't immediately do it so he takes it to me as I factory reset all the settings in the device. "Remember that it's not unlimited, you need to pay in order to make a call or send a message but if you're lucky enough, find a place where they have free internet access that you can use without a problem...."

"It's really convenient..." Renma laughed. "Since I finally have my own dorn room, I figured it's time to learn everything so that I could introduce them to my folks at ho.e.... _if they're still alive by then that is_..."

" _Ren, are you living in a battlefield or something?_ "

"Nonsense, the era of peace has finally bestowed upon us after such calamity, we shouldn't be comparing such minor personal background to _**the era of disaster**_...." exclaimed the medium.

" _Era of disaster_.... you're talking about _**that event**_ , right?" _**The Tragedy**_ , no one could ever forgive and forget such a horrible thing that happened a decade ago. While I don't even remember how it ended, all I know that it took me a while to recover from it after years of hiding. "Ren, do you remember what even happened back then?"

"I.... My memories do fail me from time to time but there's a missing gap that refused to come up for no reason at all..." the medium wonders. ".... I do feel strange that the spirits protecting me also seemed to not remember at all...."

"Can't blame them for not remembering something so horrible....." I decided to change the subject immediately. "Anyways...." I pulled out my phone to check the time, "... where's Shoma? Did he get lost again?"

"Impossible, I drew out the map almost five times and placed them on his books, bag and even hid it inside his phone case. I even made it into a chant he could easily remember...." Renma took that to an extra mile. "I will go and search for him, please wait by this haunted Sakura tree for a while...."

"D-Don't say something so scary out of nowhere...." I gulped down the lump in my throat as I shifted away from the tree, watching as the medium disappeared into the crowd. ' _It's been a while since I have to mingle in with a large crowd. I'm getting really nauseous, the strong sweet scent in the air isn't really helping me here_......'

.....

' _I feel rather lonely all of the sudden_..... _seriously_ , _where are the others!?_ '

"Ah!! Eii-chan!! _Over here!!_ "

That voice.... "I-Instructor Fuji......"

"What's with that unpleasant look on your face!? I may not be your homeroom teacher, I'm still your wonderful instructor bounded by heart, soul and mind!! Please shower me with the same admiration as your homeroom teacher!!"

.......

"Y-You're getting away instead...?" I don't want to be associated with this person for public disturbance. "V-Very well then! I will just send over the message!! Hisao and your other classmates are waiting by the right side of the stage, surrounded by three Sakura trees with white and red ribbon tied them together!"

"T-Thanks but I'm waiting for the other two-"

"No waiting!! I will just be here and send them off to your group just like that!!" the physician cut in. "I don't want to have another earful from the psychologist ever again!! He will ended up with more wrinkles and it's only the middle of the first semester!!"

" _Got it_....." He will keep going on and on if I insist on waiting for those two so I will go ahead with it. _Sorry, Renma and Shoma!_ I hope you two have enough patience to deal with one more obstacle here!!

* * *

" _Ei-chan!!_ _Over here!!_ "

From the distance and below the three trees that the physician mentioned, a large picnic area has already been set up by Taiga and Mitsuru while the others enjoyed themselves with early snacks. "A-Already eating, Renma's still searching for Shoma!!"

"We can't help it!! It's already afternoon and we got really hungry!!" Hiroshi offered up some _Mitarashi dango_ as I took one of the skewer stick. "Besides, the performance starting soon, you guys were really late!!"

"Guess I just have to text them to meet us here...." I took out my phone and suddenly was alarmed by a message I received; _it's from Instructor Fuji_ (I managed to get all the instructors' contact list from Hisao);

*** Kirei*Fuji *** > [ " _look out, someone dressed in white technician suit next to the stage..._ " ]

' _Already_.....' I forwarded that message to Nara in case she doesn't see it from her side. I need to be careful, we're already near the main stage here and we might get affected by whatever troubles that will spurred at this moment. Everyone's already enjoying themselves, even Homare and Higura sitting side by side with Amane and Machi even cracking jokes at each other.

' _Where is teacher...? I thought he would be around here as well....?_ ' I can't find him anywhere. Admist my frantic search, the performance started, with the _**Ultimate Kabuki Actor**_ narrating first as the traditional music followed soon after.

The playwright they used for this event is _**Narukami**_. A story about a priest who held a grudge against the Imperial Court as he captures the Rain Dragon so that the country will experienced terrible drought as punishment. The Imperial Court send a princess to go and rescue the dragon god as she try and distract _Narukami_.

It's an old classic, but the _Ultimate Kabuki Actor_ and _Ultimate Traditional Dancer_ have done a really great job exuding such emotions in their roles that it's almost mesmerizing to know more about an old tale.

' _W-Wait, this isn't the time to be cultural!_ ' I slapped both side of my face, alerting Hinako next to me. ' _I need to find the other instructors if they saw-_ '

Suddenly, one of the stage lights dropped down and crashed into the floor below but thankfully no one stood under there. The huge impact alerted both of the performers on stage as they're forced to stop the act.

"...!? What's going on-" The light bulbs that were hang around the trees besides started to explode one by one. ' _Overloaded!? This has to be work of the person just now!_ ' "Homare, Higura, evacuate everyone immediately!!"

"You don't have to say that shit again!!" Higura urged everyone to follow him to a safer route while Homare made sure nothing important was left behind. With the others distracted, I took the chance to escape.

* * *

The crowd went everywhere. Everyone panicking as more lights started exploding off without a warning as it's getting hard to navigate my way around to the main stage. Out of the corner of my eyes, I see a familiar-looking eagle as well as few other dogs and birds that's trying to lead others to the outside area of the park, ' _Hi-Hinako' expertise can also be used for something like this...?_ '

Mentally thanking the _Ultimate Animal Behaviorist_ for safer trespassing, I made my way to the stage before getting stopped by someone holding me back by tugging the back of my collared shirt, "E-Excuse me!?"

" _Don't run, you will fall and get trampled instead_...."

"Renma...? Why are you-" I turned around and was taken back from seeing the medium with Shoma and the former counselor herself, _Ryuko_. "W-Wait, why are you two with her-?"

"We were looking for her as well and found her under the pile of Sakura petals....." _There are some petals still sticking to her clothes_. "We tried to get her out of it before the pile got burned to the ground...."

"The ashes of the former counsellor would made a valuable impact...." Ryuko nodded, _somehow agreeing to what they've just said_. "Besides the point, you must have received a message from the physician as well, right?"

"Yes-" Wait, Shoma and Renma are still here- "W-What about these two? Aren't they supposed to be evacuated as well?"

"Hmn..... the Ultimate Academy have made some slight changes to our inspectors roster.... _not only you three will be guided by our four instructors here_...." Ryuko continued as she walked to the backstage and we followed after her. "You will be offered with a help of the _**Ultimate Mortician**_ and _**Ultimate Marine Biologist**_ for forensic inspection as well....."

" _Mortician_....." So that's Renma's other talent? I have.... looked through the records the Nara dug up from her findings. _His other ultimate talent was blacked-out due to privacy reasons_. " _Your association with death has gotten way more creepier than before_...."

"I've been raised by death itself so it's a given...." Renma exclaimed. "This news must have come as a shock to you as much as it is to us....."

"Counselor immediately showed up one day and declared us, critters, to be the guardian angels of Sumi, Nara and Ei-chan...." Shoma replied. "Us, critters, were sort of confused by what we're supposed to do but this critter will try to do his best for everyone to swim safely ashore!!"

So it's a last minute bonus helpers? What made the counselor to even do such a thing? Especially adding someone who has no experience in this kind of thing. Did... she know that Renma and Sumire has been secretly passing information or something?

" _Instructor Ryuko_..." I called out to her. "Why did you include Renma and Shoma? Not that I'm against it, I'm just confused by the last minute decision to add them in the group....."

"Mhn.... I have been thinking about internal inspection of the academy and taking account of the investigator's seldom absence that the academy couldn't even intervene with the risk of getting sued....." Ryuko explained. "... _We heed the **Ultimate Private Investigator** 's request to include the other two students for more thorough investigation_....."

' _...!? So Sumire does have something to do with it but as a request? Why would she wanted them in...?_ '

It was a rhetorical question. I know she has reasons and that reason can sometimes be something out of ordinary.

But the moment we saw the scene that's going on behind the stage.... I finally understood why she wanted these two to help us.....

..... the person that could have been responsible for the commotion earlier.... _laid dead on the ground, blood-shot and mouth gaping, with his skin near his eyes turned sickly purple_.

Renma and I immediately went to our supposed culprit's side to investigate further and the mortician already confirmed on the spot, " _Poisoned.... it doesn't look like it's been an hour so it must have been an instantaneous death_....."

The culprit.... died before we could even get him. ' _We're too late_......'

Within the moment, Shoma pulled out a syringe as he inserted the needle within the area near the culprit's eye to collect some sample, "This critter will send this to the _Ultimate Toxicologist_ for some reviewing..... this critter will also test this on other specimen for some breakdown of substances...."

These two... _are way awfully calm for this_.

"Renma...." Ryuko called out. "Haru, _the journalist_ , requested if there's any available spaces for you to place this body in the meantime? She will circulate the info about this unknown person until one of his family members step forward. By then, is it possible to clean his body to make it looked like he died from natural causes?"

"It will take weeks so please put the circulation on hold until we're prepared to show off a pristine-looking corpse instead....." Renma answered. "Please have patience... my handiwork may be slow but it's also a delicate process....."

My phone vibrated inside my pocket, I immediately took it out to see the caller first before I answered it, ".... _Have you heard about it already?_ "

" _Yeah, Nara show me the footage_...." Sumire sighed at the other side. " _Just when we finally surrounded that bastard... he made a last ditch attempt to escape from getting caught....._ "

".... Hey, why did you include Renma and Shoma into this case....?" I asked curiously. "And... how did you know that those two would even want to work with us?"

" _You should have expected the worst to come out from a simple disappearance case_...." she replied coldly. " _A case that almost spanned since **that disastrous event** ended till the present time.... everyone should know that it's no longer an ordinary runaway case anymore.... there's something going on in the academy that we should be careful about....._"

"So you have them in this case... just for more thorough investigation...?" Was she expecting some casualties in this case?

"Not just that-" A stern voice was hear from the other line, I can hear her small gasp at that. " _I will end the call here. Nara can only do a few seconds of opening up a private connection. I will see everyone once Golden Week ends_...."

Just like that, the call ended. ' _That... sounds like she's in trouble with her work over there....? Just what going on at her side?'_

"What's wrong?" Shoma asked. "Did luckster got into another trouble...?"

"No, it's just Sumire....." I become more unsure about this case. Will we even get to the bottom of it if this is what we will be faced with? How much dedication they have to the group behind this that's worth taking their secrets to their early graves?

If this continues, how much of it will accidentally be revealed to the public and we wouldn't have any control over it? Everyone's work and livelihood will get jeopardized horribly.

"Hey, kiddos...." the physician had his hand on my hand as a sign of comfort. "The adults are here to take over the scene so leave it to us to take care of it. You children are too young to even handle this amount of stress piling onto your shoulders so go before you get wrinkles....."

I protested, or try to, but Renma and Shoma insisted we should leave before we get questioned instead for getting too close to the body. So, _I just left the scene with them_.

* * *

"You three! Are you guys okay!?" Machi furiously spun me around for any injuries. "Are you hurt!? Did you get trampled on and woke up with a waking conscious later!? Should we file a lawsuit for reckless handling!?"

"M-Macchan, slow down...." He's really all over me, as expected of the _Class President_. "I'm fine... I just went ahead and try to find Renma and Shoma who got lost in the crowd...."

"This critter tries to take his friend to see the performance but unfortunately... this critter also lost his friend to the crowd as well..." Shoma sulked.

"If it's the moray eel like last time then one of my eagle have safely returned them to their natural habitat!!" Hinako tried to cheered him up.

"That's good news but you better stop taking animals to public places all the time, Shoma...." Hiroshi warned him. "But that was frightening, I didn't expect another electrical faulty to happened again outside of the academy...."

"That's strange though....?" Saku looks puzzled. "I dropped by earlier this morning to see if all appliances is working as usual and none of them have any faulty wiring or anything...."

"Maybe you missed some shit or something?" Higura replied. "But doesn't that mean you will get taken in for questioning if that's the case since you're one of the people who checked it?"

"D-Don't say that!? I don't want to get taken in by something I don't have any part in!?"

Seeing them converse normally, joking around without a care in the world... _it must have felt nice for them to not know about the corpse at the backstage that could have been the starting point between the feud of the Ultimate Academy and this supposed culprits that keeps escaping_.

' _This isn't the time to even wish for some normalcy_....' I shook my head. ' _You're in this case and you're going to proceed it as usual, one way or another... after all, Hope's Peak scouted you out solely for this and the quicker you solved, the better it will be to spend the rest of the year without a worry at all_....'

' _That's the true purpose of a **spy** , they're here to solved things in secrecy without anyone realizing and once you're done, you can forget all about these people and just move onto your next target_.....' Somehow, I feel a sharp pain suddenly hit me in the chest when I thought about that last bit. '..... _You **chose** to become a spy, so you're going to lived through it and died as one in the end_....'

I felt a hand griping on my shoulder, I looked up to see Renma with a concern written all over his face."W-What is it?" I'm still not used to his reaction.

".... _Be careful_...." everyone already went ahead, planning to spent their entire afternoon at a nearby cafe together. Before Renma left me behind, he gave me this warning, ".... _Don't try and fight against the demon even.... as tempting as it is_...."

"Wha-" he just slapped my back to get myself out of a trance as he asked me if I wanted to joined them on their cafe hunting. It seems the entire class' mood shifted and wanted to spent the rest of their free time in the city. Of course, without any reasons at all.... _I decided to joined them for our leisure time together_. 

For once, I want to forget what happened just now... _and I want to get along with everyone else as well_.

I need to take care myself as well before I go into a situation where I can never escape from. _So for now, let me indulge in these happy times while it last_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keep in mind; they're most likely 5 years old or more during the tragedy (around the same timeline as the D3 Anime). But thanks to the brainwashing video shown to the public, they experienced a bit of memory loss there. 
> 
> -
> 
> I'm still planning to include some CGs for this prequel story so that I can show you all Renma's dad-fashion and Amane's fashion sense that made him looked like he just popped out of a 1900s photograph (because my motivation for doing art stemmed from drawing charas in ridiculous fashion choices). 
> 
> -
> 
> Also;
> 
> Amane: -self proclaimed greatest and youngest composer out there, rivaling Mozart and other famous composers-  
> Also Amane: -jumped out of the window from the second/third floor to avoid socialization and threatened to exorcised his own phone just because he read one bad comment about his work-


	8. VII. Milky Way Act I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of July arrives and the preparation for Tanabata Festival has begun!! Eiichi made his rounds into helping others as best as he could while also stumble across a previous student of Yumeino Ultimate Academy....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Festival Time™ and some more fluffy interactions with a bit of background as well!! 
> 
> I also post updates on [twitter](https://twitter.com/dr_mdst) since there's an account dedicated to this series! So give a follow if you want some heads-up or updates on the next chapter or project!!

Almost two months has passed and nothing extraordinary has happened. Although, the academy has begun to livened up a bit more as another festival is approaching, _**The Tanabata Festival**_. _A festival of wishes_. As usual, when something exciting is going to happened soon, _the academy will go their way to celebrate it earlier and being way too into it_.

"Kiharu!! Ren!!" I struggled to placed down two boxes worth of bamboo stalks. "The decorations you needed are here!!"

"Ah!! Ei-chan!!" Kiharu grinned as she jumped down from the ladder. "Thank you! I was getting worried that our decors got stolen or something!!"

"Every class has their own share, no worries about it....." Despite my talent as a lucky student, I became an errand boy around the academy. Sending things from one place to another and keeping tabs on each students progress on the festival preparation for the student council (as another way to get close to them), it's better than being useless during this time. "You and Ren.... _certainly went overboard with the decors_....."

"I merely copied the usual traditions of hanging strips of colorful papers around the doorway to mimic the blues and reds of the festival..." Renma explained. " _Colorful paper cards are essential for the festival after all!!_ "

_'Yeah but not the kind that covers the entire doorway.....'_ I placed the bamboo stalks near the entrance. "Do you have enough cards for this though? We need some to write our wishes as well and the leftovers can be used to make _cranes_ and _purses_....."

"No need to fret!! Homare already planned things ahead!!" Kiharu reassured me. "She already planned to make each symbols of the festival as much as we could!!"

The enthusiasm is really contagious, like no one in this academy ever feel bored or don't feel like doing it whenever this kind of event is near. _Of course_ , it might just be due to it being included in our curriculum points but they're putting all their energy into such a simple event.

"Hey, Ei-chan!! What do you wish for this year!! Tell me and I will tell mine!!"

"Careful, Kiharu.... a wish might not come true if you carelessly told everyone about it..." Renma advised. "We will all write our wishes leading up to the festival in two days, please be patient. After all, _it's more exciting to have your wish unexpectedly granted in the most unpredictable time_..."

"Did you wish for something bad!?" the archaeologist exclaimed in shock after hear that. "Anyways, _Ren_ , how did you celebrate _Tanabata_ at your hometown? You said your family own the town's shrine, right? There's no way you didn't rebel a bit back then and read every townsfolk' wishes!!"

" _I was warned if I ever sneak a reading of it, my skin will melt, and my bones will disintegrate and dust away by the wind....._ "

_What a morbid warning to give to a kid_.

"It seem our classroom's well-decorated already... is there anyone else who needed my help?" Best to help everyone if I could since I have nothing to do today.

Sumire took a week off to work on a case again and Nara is.... _somewhere in this academy I hope_. Overall, we don't have any breakthroughs to work on yet until something suspicious came up.

"Amane and Hibiki were off practicing their concert that's due in a week!!" Kiharu easily lifted up two boxes with bamboo stalks in one go. "They probably need some audience to find a perfect pitch or atmosphere!! You know how picky the composer is!!"

As much as I don't want to sit still in silence while hearing someone goes off talking about musicals for five hours, _**I did ask for it**_. " _The concert hall it is then_.... that Amane really did reserved an entire building for himself and Hibiki......"

"I find it oddly strange he has enough funds to do that!!" Kiharu grunted. "He always claimed to be living _a lowly lifestyle_ but I just say him the other day, dining with some other rich folks at a private party?"

"Why were you there?"

_"It was during an opening of a new botanical museum!!"_

" _Oh_..." It must have been by one of Kiharu's family. "You're right... he said he sold off his musical pieces for a small change but I'm pretty sure he can still gained royalties from some of it?"

"He sold them off completely, with rights and all...... _but we don't know for sure for how much he had sold to be frank_....." Homare, the fencer, joined in the conversation. "I've attended one of the communal parties that Higura and I had a pleasure to represent both sides of our families... we often hear an orchestra band playing one of his music.... and for it to manage to make a cold-hearted businessman weep into tears till he hospitalized from dehydration, _the composer in-charge claimed that it wasn't even perfected and they made many mistakes_...."

"I-If it's really that moving then I'm surprised you and Higura managed to survive under its influence..." Kiharu remarked.

" _ **We weren't**_ , we were so moved that we have to halt the event to shed some tears for two hours....." Homare coughed. "Back to the topic, _we have no knowledge of whether or not Amane has made much of his wealth from his own work_....."

"He's not only into classical but also made some for modern pop groups and idols...." I reminded them. And he wasn't really sneaky about it as well, the pseudonym name he used in the credits is just a different way to read his name in _Katakana_. " _But we all know he hated those with a burning passion_....."

"....... _I wonder if that Ultimate Badminton Player is fine now_....." Homare remembered back the time said Ultimate student mentioned the composer's work in the idol industry and Amane just _loses it_. We all shivered at _**that moment**_. "Ah, I didn't mean to hold you back, Eiichi. _You may now go_...."

Even though we're already this close, Homare still has that refined speech-tic that she always used on others. She always used it to maintained her perfect image and it hasn't failed her yet with everyone treating her with utmost respect.

 _Besides Higura,_ though _,_ the fencer did said it's because the designer now know her really well what she really likes last month.

And now he has withhold that information from his classmates, feeling smug about it for being the only person who knows it.

 _But he hasn't realized_ _we already know about Homare's other personality from when we went cafe-hopping last time_. _The fencer urged us to let him have this moment to be something he can be proud of._

As if we have a heart to destroy that confidence of his.....

* * *

Passing through the academy grounds to get to the concert hall, I went under a huge floral archways that decorated with pink and blue paper cards, and bunch of other decorations for the wishing festival.

 _And I almost missed a certain abseiler currently scaling down the archway with a streamer in hand_ , "Roshi! _**Still jumping off of things recklessly again?**_ "

"Hey!! I know I just got discharged from the hospital but there's no reason to scold me for something that's not that big of a deal!!" Hiroshi defended himself. "There isn't that much of a height and Taiga needed my help as well!!"

For anyone who earned the title _, **The** **Ultimate Marksman** , _you would expect someone with cold personality and strict lifestyle. But that's not the case for us, Yoshimune Taiga, _the current Ultimate Marksman_ , turned out to be a festival-loving guy who's..... _still technically dangerous due to his naivety_.

' _I will never forget his lack of hesitation when he shot down that flower vase in the instructor's room just for a joke_.....' Because of that incident, Sumire, Hiroshi and I vowed to teacher and the whole class that we will stopped him from being swayed away as much as we could.

"Where is Tai right now?"

"Hmmmm... he should be back right now since he's checking in with Nao who's helping Machi out with the library...." replied Hiroshi who landed on his feet with no problems at all. _Guess he really did healed up quick_.

"Ah!! There he is!! _Ossun' 'aiga!! Ya' finally move your legs!_ "

"Sorry, sorry!! That took me a bit longer than I thought!!" the marksman claimed. "But get this!! Nao and Machi said that we will be visited by very important people later this afternoon! Like.. _super important!!_ "

"Ehhh, * _really?_ "

' _If it's just them, you can really hear their speech getting meshed together_...' "Who are these people, if you know any?"

"They said they're the representatives of the companies that's under _Yumeino Ultimate Academy Joint System_ , but not the ones that set up by their alumnus. _The older ones_...." Taiga clarifies. "I guess they just decided to drop by to share the festivities? Or just making round just in case we, students, wanted to complain about something!!"

 _The older ones_ , then it must have been those people who helped the academy right after _ **The Tragedy**_ ended. There's a few of them left in the system but still, wouldn't know who's going to visit.

"Teacher didn't mentioned we should help out in case they got lost or something.... but it's best to keep an eye out so that the academy wouldn't get in trouble for negligence...."

I then told them that I would be going ahead and check on Hibiki and Amane next. They decided joke around, saying that I've become everyone's manager and decided to let me go just so the composer wouldn't scold me for arriving too late to his practice rounds.

 _Amane really hates it when audience is late to his performance_....

* * *

"Sorry for interrupting ~ Your daily caretaker is here to make their rounds again- _Uwah!?_ " I almost slipped on a discarded music sheet just when I stepped one foot in, _in fact the entire concert hall is littered with music sheets and there's just two people here_. "What is this..."

"Eiichi, please close the doors once you're satisfied with your check-up..." From the distance, I can see the composer still sitting on the stage, writing another musical sheet. "I'm close to completing this five-days long musical that will definitely shattered everyone's will that they couldn't comprehend such solemn piece!!"

" _The time length alone is enough to shatter their will_....." I tried to pick up the nearby sheets for easy traversing. "These.... are completely different set of notes...? They don't even flow naturally?" I have experiences in learning musical notes for clue or hints in my missions, so I can just tell how much of a noisy mess his supposed masterpiece is.

" _You might want to take that back_...." Hibiki popped out of nowhere with a huge stack of papers in her hand. "Despite how jarring the notes placements are, it surprisingly turned out pretty good once you've heard him playing it... _although he rarely play his own pieces_...."

"It's not enough!!" Amane shouted from afar. "There's not enough purity left in the world that could witnessed my musical piece by its entirety!! My music shall be adored by those people, not just some cheap looking audiences!!"

"Hibiki?"

" _He wants a more honest audience_ , that's it...." the opera singer translated for me. "Apparently, _despite his status and love for expensive stuffs_ , he dislikes rich crowd who's just there appearance-wise.... there's a reason why his music tends to make people cry and feel intense emotions... _ **it's to ruined that appearance**_....."

"I see, good for him!" That explains Higura and Homare' state at the communal party. Amane is _the **Ultimate Composer**_ for a reason, where his own music can not be played perfectly by anyone else but himself, it would be a really rare opportunity to even witness him playing it that many people would actually pay his own audience just to record the whole performance.

Now, combined that power with the _**Ultimate Opera Singer**_ 's amazing ability to lull people into sleep? That's an interesting result that will end in a really silent applause. "Wait, so you guys are still in the pre-planned stage? Is there enough time to practice at least?"

"A perfect performance will be done in two days, never rush perfection!!" Amane claimed. "And never let perfection sit by the sidelines just to rot away!!"

_"So you're going to practice or...?"_

" _We will practice for two days before the actual day_ , is what he's trying to say...."

"I see, thanks, Hibiki... even after hearing many interesting things myself for the past three months, I still can't get used to their extreme devotion towards their talents...." That's the charming point of the Ultimate students. "And it's amazing you're able to understand his... _eccentricness_ in just a month....."

" _Amane is just a sailor I accidentally lulled to the shore_...." Hibiki jest with a small smirk. "But we still along well if it's about our performance since he can actually stay awake and give criticism about my singing to avoid any unnecessary straining...."

" _So he can give criticism but he can't handle one?_ "

"I've checked the one he's getting so worked up over it on the school's SNS... it's just a troll...."

"Alright then, I will tell teacher that he doesn't have to make an apology on the academy's behalf...." I'm sure glad that Amane hasn't physically come after this prankster _**yet**_. "But since you two have everything handle, do you want me to go get something while I'm here? Like snacks or anything?"

" _Amane!! Do you want black coffee!? Since you're not planning to sleep later!!_ " Hibiki asked loudly and Amane replied with a thumbs-up from afar. "There, you have an order...."

"I will be right back!!" Getting things working is really a huge satisfaction for me. As long as everyone and everything is working as it is intended to with my help, I have no problem with it or whatsoever! "Now then, the cafeteria is next- _Huh?_ "

In front of the bulletin board of the outdoors garden area, there's a tall young man with green hair and yellow streaks wearing a black suit and glasses. He doesn't look like an outsider? Maybe he's one of the people that Taiga was talking about? "Excuse me? Are you lost...?"

"Hm? Hmm? No, I'm not lost!! I'm previously a student here after all, it's impossible to get lost!!" the young man grinned. "You're one of the newer students? How cute! I wonder how much people they have taken in this time! _Ah_ , _I want to bite them all_ ~"

 _B-Bite!?_ "Then, are you one of the people who came by to check on our progress...?"

"Oho? Was our arrival being announced and recorded? Are we expecting assassins on the academy's ground if that's the case?" the green haired man chuckles. "If you're in charge of those people then please reconsider, _**you will experienced more loss than you could ever imagine**_...."

"I-I'm just a lucky student here!?" I quickly defended myself. Why is this person's way of thinking so dangerous?! "If I wanted you to be assassinated then I wouldn't be out here talking to you!!"

"Ah, _a pure little lamb_ , it seems odd to finally not be recognized here...." the young man exclaimed. "Very well then, _salute!!_ " He stood straight, mimicking a soldier salute. "I am the _**Former Ultimate Bodyguard**_ , _a graduate of the Yumeino Ultimate Academy's 47th Class_ , _ **Hanabusa Kaoru**_ of the _**Hanabusa Clan**!!_"

"...! _A Hanabusa_...?" _Wait_ , now that I connected both things together, _this is one of Hinako's older brothers._ He's also a previous student here? Well, it makes sense why would they even allowed a yakuza member to get in now that I remembered something important, " _You're Hinako's brother?_ "

"Huh!? Hina is here!? Hina is here to cultivate her talent with the other filth!?" He bit his thumb out of frustration. "How disgusting!! Hina isn't supposed to be out here dirtying her hands with the likes of others!! This place is only a fit for other filthy people!!"

_Is he mad at her for being with other people or being accepted here?_

"However!! Since I've been approached so nicely by you and you know about Hina, then you must be one of her classmates!!" Kaoru recovered from his heated self. "I'm feeling really generous today so I will let you two off!! Don't go dirtying up your appearance that much!"

"We're not that even close....." This person is so vulgar, is he really related to the _**Ultimate Animal Behaviorist**? _"A-Anyways, are you here for a meeting or not?"

"I'm on a hunt out for some bad apples just in time for the big boss's arrival!!" Kaoru explained. "After all, this is a meeting of those big people that no one would like!!"

" _No one would like....?_ "

Kaoru smirked as he pulled out a scrap of paper under his jacket, " _The Return of the Hope's Peak' Old Wolves; **Hanabusa Raisei** and_ **_Hoshino Iwao_**......"

The lineup itself was enough to make my blood run cold in its stream. _**Hanabusa Raisei**_ , _the **Former Ultimate Yakuza** and **Hoshino Iwao**_ , _the **Former Ultimate Private Investigator** of Hope's Peak Academy_. The new students here get to witnessed their rivalry up-close, _'I-If Hoshino Iwao is here then maybe she-'_

"Gyah!?" the former bodyguard suddenly fell forward and on his face as someone sneaked behind him, pushing him down with their right foot on his back. "This shameful display-!!"

"Ahhh, I just can't leave you alone for even a second...." Just when I was about to talk about her, _she appeared out of nowhere_. "Sorry, Ei-chan. Did this trash-pile bully you or anything?"

"No, I just asked him some questions...." Is Kaoru... _enjoying this treatment?_ He looks really into it, "I-I think you should stop doing that, he looks like he's going to pass out from it...."

Sumire sighed as she reluctantly did so, helping Kaoru up, "Sorry, _Ru-chan_. I get angry easily if my friends are being bullied so I acted without thinking...."

"Haaah, to be mistreated by the Ultimate Private Investigator is such a pleasure for me and a humiliation as a member of the Hanabusa Clan!!" He wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth. "No hard feelings, _Su-chan_! _As long as you continue to berate me, I will follow you wherever you go ~_ "

"Gross..!!" Sumire and I exclaimed in shock. ' _What a total masochist!'_

"Double disgust..!! _How wonderful!!_ " I have to make quick glance around our area before any by-passers got the wrong idea of what's happening.

"Anyways, _Shino_...." A nickname I made up last month for her. It was by accident as well. After saving Mitsuru from getting caught by the student council that took me the entire morning time, I couldn't say her name properly and accidentally slurred it a bit.

And so I ended up calling her ' _Shino_ ' because she thinks it's really cute. "You're doing the same thing as he does...?"

"Yes, apparently my mentor pulled me out of the case and went solved it himself just in time for this meeting...." Sumire confirms it. "I was really close as well.... _this could have been my 25th case solved and now I'm back to 0_...."

" _Just how many complaints were sent to your agency?_ " Actually, combining the fact that she mostly solved minor communal disputes, it's still quite a low number. "By the way, do you two know each other? You guys have that kind of close nicknames..."

"Both of us are _'partners'_ in multiple cases, you can say..." Sumire sneered at that _partner_ word, she definitely doesn't want to be associated with this guy at all. "But Hinako's family basically offered him up like a sacrificial lamb to make amends of past' mistakes...."

" _I see_....." I get it now, _so it was due to this person she's_.. "Hey, Kao- _Actually, how do you want us to call you?_ "

" _I'm fine with any cruel nicknames you can think of!!_ "

" _Kaoru-senpai_ it is then...." It would be weird to call him _Hanabusa_ with Hinako around. "Kaoru-senpai, what is this meeting really about? If it warrants _the most admired_ and _the most despised_ people' attendance then it must be something serious, right?"

The bodyguard looked at me for a while, before his eyes shone in realization, "Ah, it took me a while but you're that kid Su-chan picked up? I'm really jealous...."

Huh? _What does that mean?_

"Now that I know your position, there's no reason for me to withhold any information!! Not when Su-chan holding a knife close to my neck!!" I didn't realized it but _Sumire really is doing that_. "The duo is going to discuss about a deal with solving the academy's lack of security using their manpower and influence they had accumulated over the years...."

"If the academy's guard easily let this person in with no questions then it will spell serious trouble for this place....." Sumire pointed at Kaoru with the tip of her pocket knife. She sheathed it back and put it away. "However, even if it turns out to be successful, _we still have a long way to go before we could even catch the culprit_...."

" _So your mentor is teaming up with the Hanabusa Clan for this case...?_ " That's a huge deal. The once-heated rivalry is easily extinguished just by this problem alone. "Weren't they once at each other's throat?"

"Tsk, typical misinformation! I would cut off your tongue right now if it weren't for Su-chan here!!" Kaoru snorted. "Those two were previously classmates and ' _partners-in-crime'_ but as years gone by with two different ideals clashed together, they drifted apart. And when that reaches the public' ears, _they began speculating what happened between them as rumors easily wormed their way in_..."

" _Let them think what they wanted to happened between them_ , it's not like mentor and _Uncle Raisei_ have any control over it...." Sumire shrugged. "If they went overboard with it then _you guys can **take care of it**_..."

"Gyahaha! Su-chan called that old man _an uncle!!_ He would really pay you two million yen for making his day if he heard it!!" the bodyguard laughed. "It's true!! One more bad word about us and _**we will see you through it**!!_"

" _You two really are a match made in heaven_...." Sumire just shivered in disgust while Kaoru seemed to be happy hearing that. "Jokes aside, I shouldn't stop you guys here, I got things to do as well...."

"We also have ours as well.... _see you later, Ei-chan!!_ Also if you got home early, please feed Myou-chan!!"

Sumire adopted the black and white cat from Hinako so it's living with us right now. We took turns in taking care of it and made sure we kept up to date with its prescriptions. "Got it, I'm surprised that the landlord even allowed you to have a roommate and a cat so easily...."

"Gyahaha! That's because the owner of the building is a distant brother of mine!!" Kaoru explained. "Enjoy your stay there! I have to put a vicious fight with big bro for your wants and needs after all!"

Ah, _is that so_. I guess I have no other way to research about their family in secrecy anymore. Plus, it would actually make me feel really bad that I'm putting a lot of work onto this guy here. "Anyways, good luck with the meeting, you two..."

" _Thanksies_ , _Ei-chan_ ~ Hey, _you_ , did you seriously lost a tooth back then when you won the fight? That wasn't a joke at all?"

"Big bro is really strong so I'm bound to lose more than a scrap of skin!!"

They continued their banter until they entered the main building. I almost forgot what I was supposed to do at the moment and immediately headed towards the cafeteria. But, I still can't get my mind off of that very important meeting between two people, ' _Raisei and Iwao.... what a frightening duo.... just what on earth is going to happened to the academy while under their influence?'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *"....really?" = In standard Japanese language, this would have been read as "...hontou ni?" but Hiroshi said this in Kansai-ben with Taiga, which is "....honma ni?", a more laid-back and rougher style. Kansai-ben is really hard to expressed in English translation since they will suddenly sound like country-bumpkin and I'm not ready for that.
> 
> -
> 
> Hanabusa Kaoru is just unhinged and horny, please don't look too deep into his personality. I just want One(1) Horny Chara in this series. The older former Ultimates are really fun to write about and are 100% walking fucking disaster. 
> 
> -
> 
> And for the Ultimate Yakuza title, in this timeline, Hanabusa Raisei withhold any yakuza family from getting that title and still holding on it until they lost to the Kuzuryuu Clan. But during the aftermath of the tragedy, the Hanabusa Clan aided both academies to help the masses (providing supplies or so) since the the Kuzuryuu heir suddenly 'disappeared'. 
> 
> I always find it hilarious that every Let's Players who saw Fuyuhiko's title and insist that it isn't a real job when,,, it actually is, just not a really legal and safe one.


	9. VIII. Milky Way Act II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another weird encounter but this time, Eiichi's doubt about Sumire starts to grow because of it.....?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- sips tea -  
> "This chapter can fit so much miscommunication-"

Amane thankfully didn't move from his usual place when I returned with his drink.

In fact, _he hasn't moved at all_.

Hibiki assured me that she will keep an eye on him if he goes way over the time limit for the hall usage or if he's close to passing out. With Amane and Hibiki' needs taken care of, I now find myself with no work left, ' _If it's like this then I can always go to the counselor's room and just sleep there but I don't know if it's locked or not_...'

The psychologist would have a hard time keeping up with an investigator and yakuza in the same room in the meantime. I wonder if Kaoru and Sumire was there for that reason? _To hold them back in case things get violent really quickly?_

Teacher and I did wished to meet the one and only, _Hoshino Iwao_ , and we got our wish..... _we just didn't expect the other one would visit as well_. "But they have matters concerning the academy itself, not the students.... _Is there a completely different person who's going to check on the students instead?_ "

"Ummm, _who are you talking to?_ "

I turned around to the source of that unfamiliar voice, another tall man except this one is in his 40s or 50s roughly(?), _'It's one person after another... I'm attracting all kinds of people here...'_ "Just..!! Got my head in the clouds, that all!!"

"Oh good!! I thought you're one those psychics who can talk to ghosts or something!" _This person would really like Renma if he looking for that_. "It's fun to daydream once in a while but don't do it too often or else you will get run-over!!"

" _Okay_....?" At least this person is an easy-going one. "Umm, are you lost by any chance? No one would wandered here unless they have permission....."

"I have permission, all right! _I am one of those people you're talking about!!_ " The man gleefully introduced himself. "I am the proud CEO of _illuXion_ , a talent agency who ensured everyone has their chance to shine brightly on television!! _**Mochizuki Kageo**_ , the most beloved talk-show host!!"

"Huh!? _**You're Higura's father**!?_" I can see the resemblance but there's no way Higura is related to him?! Their personalities are way too different!!

" _I got disassociated that strongly here, huh_...." he has a pitiful smile on his face. "Can't help it, Hira has a totally different air around him now. I can see how that made people see no similarities between us...."

"N-No, physical-wise, there is some but it's just surprising that...." I really don't want to say it. No doubt, _that incident_ is not something I can talk about really lightly in front of him. ".... He has his kinder moments with us so there's some resemblances there....."

"Oh? Is that so? I'm really glad!!" Kageo laughed loudly. "I thought he would completely shut everyone out here but I'm glad he made an effort to make friends!! You must be his classmate, right? Mind telling me your name to see if I could recognized you from memory?"

 _From memory?_ What? "I'm _the **Ultimate Lucky Student**_ , _Oshiro Eiichi_...."

"Huh? _But aren't you_...?" Kageo shook his head before he could complete his sentence. "Never mind, I forgot this academy started to accept lucky students as well! But you're still from Hope's Peak, right? You indeed are a lucky one!!"

"It's just a lottery I won.... besides that quality, _I'm just an ordinary person_...." I lied. It's an easy-to-swallow lie. This _lucky mask_ I carefully crafted for months has taken an identity of its own; _a lucky student who's just diligent and ordinary_.

That's the perfect story for me right now.

"You know.... _sometimes you don't have to be talented just to get into any Ultimate academies_...." Kageo exclaimed. " _Sometimes you're gifted_ but _sometimes you worked your hardest for something you're passionate about_ and sometimes.... _you got acknowledged for the wrong thing_...."

"The wrong thing...?" Has that happened before? "But it's not that easy to be scouted. You need to be the very best out there-"

" _And what happened if you've already proven your best?_ " the show host asked. "What happened if people have already witnessed your tricks and games? People claimed they're the _Ultimate_ because they've done things that not everyone can. _But what happened if we pushed them too far into focusing only their talent until we've grown tired of them?_ "

"I, um...." I don't know what to say. I... _never give much thought about it_. People like Kiharu, Mitsuru and Hiroshi seemed to enjoy the things they're good at but now that I thought about Higura, Amane, Nara and Sumire, I sort of have a second thought about it. " _I don't really know_....."

_In fact, I was so determined to die **as a spy** that I don't know what would happened if I went too far with it. _

_I haven't even decide **when** will I die_.

"You're lucky because you can do almost anything without expectations, _that's another gift of a lucky student!_ " Kageo pointed at me. "People who has those titles will only be recognized by those titles! Now answer me quickly, _who's Hoshino Iwao?_ "

"The former Ul-" I almost answered it in my own usual way and I immediately stopped myself. _Crap_ , he's right. _That's all we know about him_. ".... _Hoshino Sumire's mentor_....."

"You hesitated.... you almost said his former title...." he patted my shoulder as reassurance. "It's alright, it's best to realized this earlier. People can't really go out of their way and expect nothing but success. If they're too focused on their talents, then they will forget about everything... _there's a reason why this academy was built on partnership and other things as well_...."

"But wasn't Yumeino Academy under Hope's Peak as well? _Didn't they have practical exams as well?_ " It's a big thing in Hope's Peak as well, where Ultimate students has to demonstrate their ability in front of dignitaries and experts, even the media itself will report their results to the whole world. _If they failed in it, then they will be expelled_.

"Indeed they have been but this academy's headmaster decided it's best to disassociated itself from Hope's Peak and came up with a new system...." Kageo nodded at the first statement. "People weren't too happy when they heard about it.... saying that we're trying to overshadow Hope's Peak' decades-long success but we did what we could with the best of our abilities....."

"I see...." I've always heard that Ultimate students have strong limitations with what they can do during Hope's Peak. Nothing but focusing on their talents. Something like that can easily make everyone see their talent would be nothing but a chore, _a task expected for them to complete_. "You must have experienced something like that to give an advice to someone like me...."

"Nope, _I'm not an Ultimate student or anything_!" Kageo grinned. "I'm just an ordinary skillful person who made his name through nothing but blood, sweat and tears! However, I was under a guidance of the Ultimate student from this academy to help me a bit!!"

That's..... _amazing?_ Almost the rest of companies that are under Yumeino Ultimate Academy are either by Ultimate students or previously were. And this person is really well-known partner of the academy and to hear that he's never an _Ultimate_ to begin with....

"Even as simple as that, you're already in shock?" the host chuckles. "Depending on Ultimate students as pioneers of our future will turned out nothing but trouble. No matter at what extreme levels of success they are, _**they will fail and no one will be prepared for that failure**_.... _talent is something you can be proud of but it's not always something you wanted to become of_...."

"Take care! Sorry for prolonging your duty or anything!!" He patted my shoulder again before heading off. "Have to make sure every students here are alright with their studies here!! And I'm excited what kind of colorful displays they will be showing off for this year's _Tanabata_!!"

"W-Wait, Mr. Kageo!!" I stopped him before he could run off. "I... thank you... _for those words_....."

"No worries, no worries! I have countless clients who were old treasures of past glory!" the host smiled. "It's becoming my job to make sure they're all still comfortable with their life! _You take care as well_...."

I waved goodbye at him, until he made a sharp turn to the right and disappeared from sight. This.... is the first time I've met someone who's entirely _normal_ , in some way. He's still overbearing, yeah, but...

 _I_ _just didn't expect to be lectured about talents and Ultimates by a non-Ultimate person out of all things._

" _Talent is not always what you wanted to become of_... huh....."

If the same sentence was said to a different person, I wonder how well will they take that? I wonder if that person who will hear that in the near future... _would they second-guessed their own talent the same way as I do_.

* * *

Returning to the counselor's room, head filled with thoughts of the earlier conversation, I wasn't prepared to be greeted by the investigator and bodyguard in the same room, chatting, "Ah, you two? You guys weren't in the meeting?"

"We're above the meeting room...." Kaoru stomped his foot down to indicate that. "So if anything happened, we will immediately rush downwards and settle it... besides!! Su-chan wanted to me to try this wonderful coffee she discovered the other day!"

"It's good, isn't it?" She smiled. Her soft voice and smile took me off-guard, I didn't know she had that in her. "If you wanted more then maybe next time we can go shopping, it's really rare...."

" _Shopping with Su-chan? I'm looking forward to it already!_ "

So they can have a normal conversation for once. Not like some _tsukkomi and boke_ kind of duo. Sumire may not like Kaoru's rather vulgar way of thinking and Kaoru may be too overwhelming for her, they can still easily talked it out like it's nothing. "You guys are having a fun time here while I got stopped by another mysterious person on sight....."

" _Mochizuki Kageo?_ " Sumire asked and I nodded. "He came earlier than I thought, guess he really wants to meet the other two...."

"Ahh, the last time he met with them, he almost lost his eye..." Kaoru finished his coffee. "I wonder if he can get away this time...."

" _ **I'm sorry, what?**_ " That person actually have some connections with those two?

"Details, details, aren't you guys tired of these meticulous things? It will be bad if I overshared!" said Kaoru in a sing-along voice. "But it's really hilarious that they haven't set their differences aside!"

" _To be honest, I never seen mentor get easily mad by just looking at Uncle Raisei's face_...." Sumire confessed. "It was almost like hell has just opened for the third time...."

" _I really want the details if it's like that_......" I'm getting too absorbed in this conversation. "By the way, Shino, are you going to be here during _Tanabata_? Everyone's planning another outing when nighttime really hits....."

"I unfortunately have to check my schedule again...." the investigator wonders. "After all, I've been expected to be given another case that's worth a month's work...."

" _Oh_...."

"Su-chan, can't you just hold it off for a day?" Kaoru sounds annoyed. "Look, your mutt got really sad from hearing that. If you're going to be like that then it would be just a waste for you to even attend this academy in the first place...."

"Shut your mouth before I sew them myself!!" It's her turn to scold him but he doesn't seem to be affected by it compared to her earlier insults. ".... Fine, _I will make time for it_....."

"Seriously, what's with you and your tendency to solve cases that those lower filth can handle?" the bodyguard clicked his tongue. "They can dirty their hands for you and if they did something wrong, then you can scold them however you like....."

" _ **Failure isn't an option for us**_...." Sumire glared at Kaoru. "No matter what... _I would not allow any failed case tarnished my mentor's reputation_....."

_Failure_. Just when I had that talk with that show host earlier. But I can't pull that statement now, I will get chewed out for it. _This really isn't something where failure is an option_.

"It's fine, Kaoru-senpai, if Shino really is busy then we shouldn't push it...." I forced myself to say it. I'm disappointed, yes, but _it's something really important to her_.

"..... _If you say so_..." the bodyguard admits defeat but he still continues to express his anger. "I don't want to get in the middle of a household dispute, nothing good will turned out from that kind of fight.... but unless you really wanted that second-grade recognition then be my guest. I'm sure _something like that is enough to make you happy like a small insect to a light trap_..."

Sumire stayed silent after hearing that. Looking at her closely, she seemed to be ashamed of herself for saying things like that. _Is she really regretting it now_ -

" _Ei-chan!!_ " With everyone's mind too focused on the situation at hand, a sudden intruder entered through the counselor room's window. The abseiler himself who invited himself in like it's nothing, "I've been looking all over the place!! Ren and Macchan needed your help!!"

" _W-Where did you come from...?_ "

"I've checked every single rooms from the outside to see if you're in any of them!!" Hiroshi proudly exclaimed. "I also couldn't enter the 2nd floor since Renma told me there's a bloodbath going on there....."

"Crap, _it happened already!?_ " Kaoru sat up immediately.

"If it's this quiet then they're really at it!!" Sumire panicked. " _Ru-chan, let's go now!!_ "

" _You don't have to tell me that!!_ "

The other two exited the room, completely leaving Hiroshi and I behind while scolding each other for missing out the noises from the floor below us, _even though we didn't really hear anything just now_.

"I didn't know Sumi was here and.... actually who was that person just now? I don't recognized him?" Hiroshi asked curiously.

"He's one of the students here and there's.... _some meeting that those two were asked to attend_...." I don't think the abseiler even knew about people behind the bloodbath or who they are. "But let's just go now, don't want to keep the other two waiting...."

I reluctantly followed Hiroshi's way of scaling down the building as our only method to traverse onto the school' grounds safely. The front entrance of the building was suddenly crowded by a sea of students who heard the commotion inside. Thankfully, they're too distracted by that to even notice us so we got off easily as the instructors we're trying to pry their students away from the situation.

The abseiler guided me to the cafeteria area; where from its outside appearance, it could have been easily mistaken for a green house instead. Inside of the building, it's just as lavished as other places, the resting area consists of four red sofa facing a small coffee table for the students and instructors to have a small talk.

It wasn't long until we found the medium, librarian and hacker, _who I haven't seen for the past few days_ , were seated at the spot near the entrance, "Sorry for keeping you guys waiting.... did you need me for something...?"

" _Ei-chan has been keeping himself busy, huh!!_ " Nara laughed. " _Even when we rescued him from a terrible situation, he's still expecting some work instead!_ "

" _Huh?_ "

" _A little birdie_ told me that something dangerous will happened if you remained in that building for too long...." Renma explained. "And I received a second warning from the spirits here that blood will be spilled so I had Hiroshi here to collect you....."

"That's why? Thanks, Renma... you actually save me from an awkward situation instead...." I thanked the medium. "And thanks, Hiroshi... if you didn't say anything about the bloodbath, the three of us whould have just sit in silence till evening...."

"Just who is that other person with Sumi? Should we even leave her with that thing?" I'm not sure if the way he referred Kaoru as a lesser human was on purpose or not. "I wanted to pull her out of there as well but she looks kind of busy...."

"Another stranger? I hope it's not the same stranger who beat up the school's guard and threw him in the dumpster....." said Machi. _So he actually forced his way in here_. "There's a lot of things happening today so _Makkun_ and Kiharu stopped their decorating work as well as Tai and Roshi...."

" _Makkun_....?" The medium has that face of uncertainty, " _You were called Makkun before_...?" Renma and Machi are from the same school so that has to be some sort of nickname.

" _We were sort of popular back then_...." Renma nervously laughed. "After getting expelled from my previous school and was placed with other lowly-ranked third years, Machi entered as a first year and people seem to noticed two different personalities from us, newcomers....."

"After that, _Makkun_ and _Macchan_ emerged....." Machi shrugged. "And it's for nothing as well, they were hoping for Makkun to beat me up or anything but we've never even met, even once at all.... _we accidentally made a faction of our own without even noticing_....."

"Ah, so you guys formed a cult...." Hiroshi just made that weird high school moment into one condensed sentence. "And Renma got expelled for...?"

"That's a bit rough to tell but feel free to refer back to the police records during your free time...." _**Renma, what did you do!?**_ "Who would knew the two fated rivals would meet in a prestigious academy of all places?"

"What are you? Some love-sick maiden in a _shoujo_ manga? Stop screwing around, _you no-good closeted delinquent_...." Machi sighed. "If I could have known you're this kind of type, I would have relentlessly pick on you back then....."

" _ **Careful, I don't want to injured that pretty face of yours**_ ~"

" _ **Do that and I will make sure you stay expelled for good**_...."

' _A-Another weird past connection_.....' In one way or another, all of us have met before at some point. Just what kind of coincidence is that, was this city always this small? _Old classmates and friends_ , no doubt it would be either a blessing or a curse to meet them all. ' _Well, I always ditched them so makes sense I don't have any..._.....'

" _Ei-chan looks sort of sad today?_ " Nara remarked. " _Could it be Sumi said something horrible to him again!? Nara shall scold her more and more!! Nara will pulled out her cheek till she became a gummy person!!_ "

" _Do that and you're gonna get more than an apology_....." I chuckle. "It's nothing, we just got into a small fight as usual......"

"Please described this _'small fight_ ' you guys usually have...." the librarian asked. "These things may seem nothing to you two but as outsiders, I would like to know more about it....."

"Macchan, I really don't want you to be my personal counselor for the entire year....." I sighed heavily. Machi has been my go-to person to vent at, he often help me with my problems as well. "I pretty much depended on you to clean up Nara's mess.... _and mostly anything related to her_....."

" _Hey!?_ " The hacker sounds offended.

"I don't mind...." Machi doesn't seem to be bothered by it. "I'm the type to not shy away from any requests so whatever you ask of me, I will certainly do it..."

" _Like stripping?_ "

" _ **Why the hell do you guys think of that instead?**_ " Machi glared at the medium and abseiler. "Do you really want that? Do you really want me to strip right now? I will-"

" _ **I will report you three for bothersome**_ ** _behavior_**....." I sternly warned them and they immediately shut up. _Good thing my close relationship with the student council that I've been building up for the past two month has been worth it!!_ "Back to the main topic, no, I don't think I need your help this time.... Shino has always been a difficult person to begin with....."

"Could this be about the _Tanabata_ festival....?" I winced which made the medium's smile even wider once he realised he hit a jackpot. "I understand your frustration for everyone to get along but not everyone can manage their time better... _especially those whose lives are on the line_....."

"That excuse again? _She's just someone's informant_...." I rested my forehead onto the palm of my hand. "She just disappear elsewhere to collect information for other people and even then, it's not something that she _wanted to do_ but _has to anyways_....."

"Opps, _careful what you've said there_ , Ei-chan...." Machi was about to cover my mouth before he looked around our surroundings. "Someone might record you saying that and send that to her agency....."

"I won't be hunted down, _Shino promised me that_......." _And I won't just die halfway either_. That promise was made right before we enter Yumeino Ultimate Academy and it's just something we agreed between us, _we would not let this case go unsolved_.

But it was funny looking back at that moment, swearing on our lives as if it's our last mission and we're in our prime. Now, _we just reverted back to acting like normal high school students_.

"..... You two have an odd relationship there....." Hiroshi pointed out. "Taiga and I were kind of confused, you guys are roommates, right? But what we're seeing here instead was some kind of ' _owner-dog'_ dynamic?"

... _Never mind, I think I just got degraded even further into standing on all fours._ "I am a freeloader, she still owned the room and I just crashed in..... _also calling me a dog is the worst insult ever since she treat her cat better than she did with me_....."

" _Hah!! Nara knew she ended up taking that thing in!!_ " the hacker snickers. " _Sumi is really weak to those furry creatures so it's inevitable that she would them in!!_ "

Nara knew Sumire a lot better than I do and she isn't even around physically that much. Meanwhile, _I absolutely knew nothing about her besides her talent_. _**Nothing**_. ' _Mr. Kageo's talk from earlier is starting to get to me.... I wonder if this is the reason I.....?_ '

" _Macchan_ , _Ren_.... can I ask you something...?" I easily caught the other two' attention. "Even before entering the academy, how much do you know each other or even know Shino besides her mentor....?"

"....? That's a weird question?" Nonetheless, the librarian answered, "While never met once, we can easily figure them out through rumors and gossips. Until then we met for real, we dismissed some of those false words and secrets that we picked up from other people....."

"It was hard work to dismiss some inconsistencies...." Renma continued. "But we ended up being unpredictably close, like we're this modern day's _Orihime_ and _Hikoboshi...._ "

" _ **Who are you calling a *clothes-weaver?**_ " Machi narrowed his eyes. "Anyways, even with some passing news about Sumi, I knew she's nothing but some workaholic doing her job as the protege of Hoshino Iwao... _It's as simple as that once you've stepped outside of that talent title_....."

" _Outside of talent_....."

"Ah.... I must have made a mistake here then...." Renma nodded slightly. "Sorry, Macchan but I'm afraid it's _Sumi_ and _Ei_ that's the _Orihime_ and _Hikoboshi_ of our times. But they're heavily clouded by doubt to even crossed the bridge of Milky Way....."

" _So it's like that_....." That weird metaphor somehow made sense to only the both of them here. "I still don't understand what's going on between the two of you but from what this person is trying to hint at here... _you two never see each other as equals or even friends since this school year begin_...."

_That's not really it though_. I can't really say the problem out loud here. Even though we don't really treat each other as close friends, we still depend on each other for other things.

" _There has to be a better way to say that but_...." Hiroshi tried and clarified. "Think of it as this; the bridge that you're supposed to cross was made out of rather poorly-built concrete that would collapsed once both of you are on it. With both people carrying heavy doubts about each other, that foundation will fall no matter what....."

... _Oh_.

Now, that Hiroshi put it that way, it sort of make sense a bit? It's true that the relationship between Sumire and I was mostly.... _due to the mission we're tasked with_. And because of that, we never see each other as merely teammates. _I'm just a client_ and _she's the provider_ , and vice-versa. _We don't really made any effort to even try and become friends as well_.

Judging by our real talents, we have our own reasons why we didn't but judging by our own doubts.... we don't really have that much trust towards each other. And if Sumire was close to and trust Kaoru a lot more than me and that person seemed to know her better, _that just said a lot about me instead_.

" _Huh, Ei-chan just died from listening to a very vague story!!_ " Nara snapped me out of my dazed thoughts. " _Nara don't really get why Tanabata is represented by two lovers trying to cross a bridge but she doesn't mind because Nara gets to eat a lot of summer foods during this festival!!_ "

" _It's the only day where two lovers can meet due to their intense bond with each other that kept them separated_...." Renma chuckles as he seemed to hold up a talisman. "Everyone came to celebrate _Tanabata_ for these two' reunion and the legend goes that if it ever rain during its day, the bridge will not appear and the lovers will never see each other until next year.

"They all prayed that they would meet to reignite that beautiful bond they had.... _as they all even wish to have that sort of beautiful bond with someone else as well_......"

' _A bond with someone else_.....'

......

I may have discarded those things away before, but.... maybe this time... _I should_....

* * *

After that talk with Renma, Machi and Nara, Hiroshi and I decided to go back to our classroom, as it turns out we haven't even write our wishes for the bamboo stalks outside of the class. We were talking about other miscellaneous things like Renma's upcoming involvement in the Obon festival (and potential possession cases skyrocketing during August) before Hiroshi stopped, " _Another suspicious person_ -!!"

A man in a long black trench-coat was briefly standing in front of our class before he quickly walked away when he heard the abseiler's voice. He was standing in front of the bamboo decoration the medium and archaeologist set up this morning. Right when we're near the entrance, Higura and Saku abruptly opened the classroom's door.

"T-That was close... we could have been killed-!!" Saku seems to hyperventilate a bit. "I can't believe that person is here!!"

"Hey, breathe normally!!" Higura elbowed the other in the chest. "If he heard you that he will surely come back again!!!"

" _Eek!! There's no way I want to meet him in this state!!_ "

" _You two, slow down_....." I can't tell if this is a serious situation or not, these two has been this class's _tsukkomi_ and _boke_ so it's hard to differentiate a joke and an actual serious thing. "What's going on? Who was that person just now...?"

"I-It's him!! It's the great _ **Hoshino Iwao**_ who was standing in front of our class just now!!" Saku excitedly exclaimed. H-He was looking through the classroom and we were both hiding!! Then he was looking at the decorations and all...."

"This bastard dragged me into his hiding spot!!" Higura gritted his teeth. "As Machi's assistant, I would have asked him if he's looking for some shit!!"

 _The **Hoshino Iwao** was here_....? Which means the meeting is over but why suddenly visit some random classroom, he's not even a student here. ' _I doubt he would want to visit some classmates of his own student since he doesn't strike anyone as a people-pleaser type_.....'

" _What's this?_ "

Hiroshi went over to the bamboo stalks that was placed near the entrance where everyone's wishing papers were held up. There's _one oddly dull-colored paper_ that's hidden among the brightly colored ones. "I haven't seen this one before.... could it be from that person earlier...?"

"He wrote his wish here....?" That's.... _really out of place_. "I mean, he could have just done it on the actual day....."

"Let me see that!!" Saku snatched the paper from the abseiler's hand as he tries to read it. I can see his face slowly morphed into confusion, " _W-What kind of Matsuo Basho's writing is this!?_ "

" _He made his wish into haiku instead?_ " His cool image is slowly dissolving here!! _Is he really this big, bad lion compared to Sumi's active housecat?!_

"Not only that but he's also the traditional type...?" Hiroshi somehow deciphered his writing way quickly than the other. "He seemed to write Sumi's name as _'Mirei-han'_....."

" _That's too formal_....." Higura replied. "I get they're mentor and student but that's way too formal to give to a kid!!"

" _I think that's really normal in his hometown_....?" So Iwao, Taiga and Hiroshi are almost the same. I can tell from his sentence that Iwao is more relaxed and not rough compared to the other two. And that nickname for Sumi, _Mirei-han_ , it's almost endearing, like it's something a doting father would do.

"Hold on! _He wrote that wish about Shino!!_ " That completely flew past me!! This person who always seem to make Sumi scowled whenever someone mentioned him right in front of her!! "Roshi!? You can read it right!?"

"I-I really can't?" Hiroshi answered. "His writing is more flowery than what I'm used to, as if he's some wandering ronin in present time....?"

Hiroshi, Saku, Higura and I decided to spend the entire evening trying to understand the wish written by infamous private investigator but _we hit a dead end_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * In the Tanabata story, Orihime is a princess who's also known to wove beautiful clothes by the heavenly river (a.k.a The Milky Way).
> 
> * Iwao, Taiga and Hiroshi have Kansai-ben but still have some difference according to their birthplaces. Hiroshi and Taiga speak in Osaka-ben while Iwao's speech and writing style is in Kyoto-ben (both dialects still fall under Kansai) so there's some similarities and differences as well.


	10. IX. Milky Way Act III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tanabata Night Festival's here and the class received a visit from an intruder....!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be two-part story arc but it became three instead wwww  
> There's one more story arc before the Cultural Festival which is HOPEFULLY ONE PART ONLY (watch me jinx myself once again-)

The night of the Tanabata festival is finally here, and the academy has gotten a lot more festive than it was this morning.

Food stalls and all sorts of entertainment set up right after you enter the entrance, and apparently there's also a _taiko drum_ performance (Hiroshi mentioned this was Taiga's part in the job and also the reason why he's always running around, managing things).

The trees were all decorated with long colorful strip of paper with every classes' wishes on it and the academy's garden area were set-up carefully for the night-viewing. Of course, _Mitsuru and Taiga ensured the class would get the best spot_.

"How's this!?" the cosmetologist eagerly twirled around in her white and pink yukata. "I've been saving it for a special occasion and what greater beauty it deserved to be seen in it than the day of the lovers!!"

"Mitsun thought it would be great that we matched!!" Taiga showed off his bright red outfit. "It's a shame that only both of us decided to go all out!! You guys should have done the same to feel some festive vibes here!!"

"I'm not used to wearing those sort of things.... too many steps for just tying them together...." Hibiki confessed. " _It does feel like a bit of a waste for not a part of it though_....."

"No worries, 'biki!!" Kiharu reassured her. "You don't have to embarrassed for not knowing how to tie your obi! After all, it's personal preference, other people tied theirs in their own special way and it's mostly for decoration!"

"A-Also..." Nao continued. "Your dress is really beautiful!! L-Like it's mimicking the sea waves at the beach!!"

" _I may have become a siren, after all....? Perhaps I should start luring some merchants for some subsistence_....."

"Ei-chan....." Shoma is lying down. Because it's summer, the heat and humidity proves to be too much for the _Ultimate Marine Biologist_ hence, his head is now resting on my lap like I'm his pillow for now. _We did bring a small inflatable swimming pool just in case_ , "Did Sumi-critter said she's going to be late....? The sky will clear up and this 'bridge' will be revealed soon....."

"Sorry, _Shou-chan_....." I sighed heavily, while fanning his head. "She's busy around this time.... but maybe next time!"

" _I see_......" Shoma crossed his hands and placed them against his chest, _the usual pose to see someone in their casket_. The heat must have been really too much for him. "Too bad..... this critter thought she would be with us again.... another small fry is leaving us again......"

_It's a bit late_ , I guess she really did planned not to drop by at all. And I thought Kaoru's reasoning would be enough to change her mind but her loyalty towards her job still insists. To be honest, I do feel a bit disappointed with her-

"Ackh!?" My eyes got covered up by some sort of cloth. "W-Who the hell-!?"

" _It's me! Your favorite human garbage is here to be made fun of again!!_ "

That voice is..... "K-Kaoru-senpai....? _Why are you here...?_ "

"Why, you ask?" the bodyguard laughed out loud. "This festival is open to the public and of course, the academy needed to heightened up their security!! It's the first step being done here as well!! Also, I wanted to see my beloved younger sister!!"

" _ **Ah, there seem to be a wild coyote's carcass that's still twitching**_....." Hinako, however, doesn't look too happy to see him. " _ **Taiga, would be a dear to make this dying animal go extinct once more?**_ "

"Hina, I'm not an exterminator....?" Taiga reasoned with her, he knows how serious she is about it. "And I'm not pest control or a hunter either!! If you want to take someone out, then go look for someone who could actually do it!!"

"Tai, _**why the fuck are you encouraging her like that?**_ " Higura asked. "And who the hell is this person? He fuckin' stink as hell!!"

" _Guys, please don't berate him even further, this is too embarrassing_....." Kaoru's now convulsing ( _not in pain, mind you, but in.... something else..._ ) on the ground the more they insulted him. Thank God, we're way isolated from other classes to be associated with this.... _mess_. "But since you're here, that means you're on break?"

"Oh no, _I'm here to kidnapped you!!_ " Without letting me finish, he suddenly picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. Shoma got ungraciously shoved away the moment he sat up and Renma helped him up. "Sorry, my darling juniors!! I would love to bite every single one of you but I need to have my time messing with this kid first!!"

"L-Let me go!?" The bodyguard immediately took off before anyone could stop him.

"H-Hey!? He's actually kidnapping him!?" Mitsuru suddenly snapped back to reality. "Should we call teacher!?"

"No time!! Hiroshi and I will go after him!!" the marksman and abseiler chased after the kidnapper. "Eiichi, just h-hold on there!!"

" _Kaoru, you fucking leech!!_ " Hinako cursed as she also joined the other two in pursuit. " _I will make sure you regret_ _being born!!_ "

"Ah, hearing Hina sounding all-grown up and acting like our brother made my heart swayed in peace...." Kaoru sighed with his face flushed. "This truly is a blissful moment for a leech like me to hear, _I'm so blessed_....."

" _S-Seriously, I think you really need some help_....." Just how much negativity does he have to face everyday....?

* * *

Kaoru made sure we made it to the middle of a dense forest so that the pursuers lost track of us before he could put me down. At least he was kind enough to make sure I don't fall of from his grasp. "Now, _**please tell me why are you kidnapping me and I want a more coherent answer**_...."

"Eh, you're awfully calm!?" Kaoru exclaimed. "You truly are Su-chan's friend!! No flinch, no worries!!"

"I'm....." _That again_. "Well, I wouldn't say that....."

" _ **What? Is that a declaration of rivalry I heard?**_ "

" _Huh!?_ " That was Sumire's voice!! I tried to look around the surroundings but couldn't find her anywhere. It wasn't until I stared at the bodyguard's face where he was looking upwards, above from when I'm standing. I followed his gaze and sure enough, Sumire is sitting on a tree branch with the hacker's robot in her arms.

" _Haha!! Ei-chan's surprised!!_ " the robot twitched. " _A total shock, a total surprise!! Nara managed to record his reaction in full HD!!_ "

"Why are you guys up there.....?" I asked in disbelief.

"I don't like crowds so I picked the most isolated spot I could find...." Sumire shrugged. "But since this spot also have a lot of tree blocking our view, I figured we could take our spot a bit higher...."

" _Sumi also requested that trash over there to pick you up!!_ " I refused to look at where Kaoru is when I heard a strange noise behind me. " _It's not fair to keep away such a perfect spot for some star-viewing!!_ "

" _So that's why_....." She was absent during the Sakura-viewing, was that due to her dislike of crowds as well? ' _What if.... that's why Kaoru and Sumire were arguing about and the rest was just some add-ons....?'_

"Well? Are you going to join us or not?" Sumire smirked. "I bet Kaoru made a big fool of himself enough to make you not go out again, you will gained some unnecessary attention..."

 _She really is doing this just to made fun of me_. "Alright, just hold on...." I tried to climb up the tree they're on. It's been a while since I've climbed one and even back then, I need some help from..... _my parents_. But I managed to get up, Sumire pulled me next to her once I've gotten near enough. "So you really did visit...."

"I've.... tried to get permission from my mentor, he said it's alright and he will have another person to take care of the work in the meantime...." Sumire went silent for a bit. "But once I get back, I will make sure there isn't any mistake there....."

"There you go, speaking about your workplace again..." Kaoru sighed as he leaned against the tree. "Your mentor is so excruciatingly annoying!! Give me a word if you're finally tired of him and want him assassinated!!"

" _ **I will kill you myself if you even try**_....." the investigator warned him. "It is what it is, don't try and change that. And it's something I do for a living as well. Aren't you getting tired of being pushed around as well, Ru-chan? So, why still sticking by your family?"

"Ohhhh, you hit a really sore spot there, Su-chan.... _**you're lucky you chose to stay up there, I would cut you up in an instant!!**_ " Kaoru's smiling but his annoyed tone says otherwise. "I stay for my brothers and Hina, of course!! Even though our father is a piece of shit, there's no way I would leave them under his hand all by themselves!! With _Hanabusa Clan_ rising to relevancy again after the _Kuzuryuu Clan's_ disappearance, I do my best to shield them away from the impending horror of our family's business!!"

"It doesn't look she's enjoys your company though...." She even wishes for death upon him earlier.

"Hina always expressed her distaste towards us like that all the time, _nothing odd about that_......" Kaoru chuckles. "But asking other people to kill me instead of doing it herself proves that she doesn't have it in her to kill another family member...."

" _I think it's just that fear of getting caught....."_ I corrected him. "I admired your optimism though even after getting insulted by maybe five people just now...."

"Flattery this, flattery that... you're not getting your ass saved by saying those sappy stuffs out of your ass!!" Kaoru exclaimed. "No matter what, I am from the Hanabusa Clan, if you crossed us then you won't be spare!!"

' _Figure he wouldn't be that different from the rest_....' Both Kaoru and Sumire' talents has something to do with their family. For the bodyguard, it's Hina and the other siblings, perhaps he was being belittled by head leader since Kaoru didn't involved him in the family. For Sumire.... I still don't really know what. I have a feeling that she dislike him but her mentor... _does care a bit? Really not sure about it._

"Shino, about a few days ago...."

"Yeah, yeah... sorry about that...." Sumire sighed out an apology. "My mind was all wrapped around with two important tasks on that day so I accidentally took that stress out on you instead.... my bad, I will minimized my stress next time...."

"Yeah, well, this is about your mentor after all...."

"I know where this going, you're going to ask-"

"No- Actually, let me cut to the chase...." I decided to say it with confidence.... _and caution_. " _ **Forget about the workplace, task and your own mentor for once**_ , the whole class is sick of hearing it every time we had a big discussion. You're an Ultimate student, yes, but all of us wanted to know about _Hoshino Sumire_ , not the robot that is the _Ultimate Private Investigator_.... and that life is more interesting that whatever shit you're trying to show off here....."

" _Oh shit_...." the bodyguard's eyes widened. " _That's the first time Su-chan's getting scolded_...."

" _N-Nara will stay silent for this one!!_ " The robot's not moving in the investigator's arm, who is also sitting still with a genuine look of surprise plastered onto her face.

"You keep talking about your work and expect us to make use of that... _for what exactly?_ " I frowned. "I understand the situation but at the same time, how much longer would you want us to wait for you? We've known each other for a few months yet I knew less about you that I did with Nara!! And she didn't attend class most of the time!!"

"Putting two competent people on a job will still fail if those two won't cooperate at all so _please don't leave us in the dark all the time_. _It makes us trust you even way less than before_. I really want to see you as a friend, Shino... but if you're going to act like the world is depending on you then I might have to push you off right now as a proof of my dissatisfaction...."

Kaoru just slid all the way down as he touched the ground, he repeatedly whispered curses and praying right after I finished speaking. The investigator let go of Nara as the robot landed on the bodyguard's lap. There was a couple of minutes of silence between the four of us before the investigator broke down into laughter.

It's.... not that creepy, kind of hyena-like laughter. I don't really know how to described it but it's not her attempt to come off as unsettling or something to intimidate us, just a genuine laughter with tears coming out of her eyes, "Oh man!! That's the first time someone called out on my bullshit!!"

"I-If that's the first time, then I'm surprised they can still tolerate you...?" I threw in one more insult there. " _B-But I still stand by my words!!_ I can't keep covering your ass any longer if you keep disappearing off like that!! We're classmates after all and once people found out the inconsistencies in our lies, we will get in trouble!! At least made an effort to befriend them as well so that you're not a sore thumb here!!"

"You're forcing me came out of my shell, huh? Aren't you acting a bit like Machi now?" her laughter finally died down. "I get it, you're frustrated that I keep leaving you behind to deal with everything. I'm a pretty bad owner...."

" _Please stop comparing me to a mutt_...." I can hear Kaoru's snickering at that. "I don't really know the purpose of this partnership if you keep your hands busy with other stuffs when have more important things to focus on. Juggling school life and private life isn't easy but also not an excuse to disappear without a reason....."

"Go ahead, complained some more! I'm all ears here!" She seemed to be happy for some reason. "I understand your viewpoint completely!! Usually hearing people spiting the hell out of me just made me want to riled them up but yours a bit different kind of spite... very well then, I will have serious discussion with my mentor if I could tidy up my schedule!"

"It would be nice as well if you stopped bringing your mentor into the conversation, it's becoming an old excuse as well...."

"Wow, you're really overhauling my entire personality there, huh? Well, I get it!! You wanted to know the real * _violets hidden within the funeral flowers_ , huh? That will take a long time and you will have to earn it. I'm not going to easily lay it out bare for you to take it all in. I have stuffs that's really important to me too, you know?"

"I do as well _but you completely pulled that rug under me_...." I called back our first meeting. "Just.... don't go disappearing off or do something stupid right under our noses... we will surely drop you without even thinking...."

".... _Very well, I will try and be with everyone for now on_...." Sumire declared. "Also, you shouldn't be the only one who's saying that, Ei-chan, you're also hiding a lot of stuffs from us as well. But the moment you pressured me into this, _does this mean you're going against your own moral-code?_ "

"I haven't decided that yet......" Going against the spymaster's words.... aren't exactly easy. "But I will try to be more honest as well...."

"Hopefully today or else the trouble I went through would be a total waste!!" She burrowed her hands into her jacket. Unlike our other classmates who went to the festivals in their traditional wears, the investigator went in their more casual stuffs instead. She pulled out a small box, "Here!! Happy birthday, Ei-chan!!"

My eyes widened in shock, "H-How did you....?"

"Know your real birthdate? Well, it's not that hard...." She said that but with context, I made sure I threw out and burnt every available documents out there that could potentially traced back to me and hide my identity for almost ten years already. "I have my own ways and it's more... _personal_ than I like to admit...."

 _Oh_. Scratch that, I didn't disposed _**one**_ of it, and it's something that I can't do anything about it. "T-That's rather insensitive for you to pry around for a minor thing. Honestly, _you really are the worst human being out there_....."

" _Do you want the present or not?_ "

" _I will take this one, I will fight you if you take it away from me_...." I instinctively defended the present from her prying hands. It's my first birthday gift for almost a decade. "Thank you, Shino..... I just never thought people would even ca-"

".... Just so you know, _I'm not the type to throw people away like that_.... you know that much, right?" That could have been a lie, but I remember how when we first met, those people at the alleyway actually responded to the jokes and insults we made at the exact moment.

They may be her previous clients but she made sure to keep contact on all of them as much as possible for them to even do her bidding like that, _either with bad intentions or not_. All in all, she has her ways with dealing people but also suck at keeping one good relationship.

"Hey, are you two finished making up now? Nara and I have been waiting for too long!!" Kaoru shouted from below. "If Ei-chan's gone for too long, someone would eventually call the police or something! I'm not in the mood to get arrested!!"

With much deliberation, Nara, Sumire and I decided to go back to our classmates. Of course the moment they found us, _they immediately see towards Kaoru and punishing him intensely (mostly done by Machi and Hinako)_. The others expressed their concern (about me, being taken away by some stranger) and surprise (for Nara and Sumire to be present) but overall, it didn't stir them from having a class outing still. 

With the person who's always MIA finally joining the outing, the group feels complete. Our psychologist teacher also joined along with his family, as we all gazed at the clear sky of the _Milky Way_. 

' _It's a clear day.... that means Hikoboshi and Orihime can meet again for this year as well, the bridge is there for them to cross...._ ' I smiled at the story that Renma told us. ' _May their feelings bloom ever so brightly as **Altair and Vega..... may our wishes to have all of us together again come true once more...'_

Even though it's a day to worship the two heavenly stars above, _Deneb_ refused to be left behind, _and so the ***Summer Triangle still shone together._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * According to Japanese funeral etiquette, it is considered rude/unnecessary to send condolences flowers to a funeral ( can be seen as an unneeded form of sympathy). Sumire's name can also be referred to the violets flower and in hanakotaba, violets can indicated 'small love' or 'sincerity'. Sumire basically said, "You're trying to find some sincerity in an empty presence?" or something similar to trying to find her honest feelings. 
> 
> That sentence is open for interpretation but bear in mind, I'm an ass who couldn't simplify things wwww
> 
> ** Altair and Vega are Hikoboshi and Orihime respectively in Tanabata lore. 
> 
> *** Summer Triangle (Deneb, Altair and Vega) consists of the the brighter stars from three different constellations (Cygnus, Aquila and Lyra respectively), they serves as a natural/stellar calendar. Once they appeared, it's the sign of changing seasons (from Spring to Summer).
> 
> "Does it correlates to Sumi, Eii and Nara" Who knows?
> 
> -
> 
> Okay,,, listen,,,, I didn't expect to give linguistics, folklore, flower language and astronomy facts in this chapter but I can't help myself.  
> Now like the first note, hopefully the next arc is just a one-parter (since it focuses during Tsukimi Festival) but just watch me jinx myself like the trial chapters for Chapter V & VI :)


	11. X. Tsukimi Act I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Tsukimi Festival approaches but a slight tension has caused a small rift in the group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update!!  
> Mobage' events got me by the throat :D
> 
> I also post updates on [twitter](https://twitter.com/dr_mdst)! So give a follow if you want some heads-up or updates on the next chapter or project!!

There's a pattern in Yumeino Ultimate's Academy on which events they would largely celebrate during each seasons. In spring, they would mostly have a _Hanami_ _gathering_ while in summer, _Tanabata_ _festival_ is one of the few _Natsu matsuri_ they would celebrate.

And so in autumn, it's obviously going to be _Tsukimi_ _festival_ , a more relaxing event held right before the _Cultural Festival_. It wouldn't be a big deal to even help out or not, _until a certain businessman suddenly appeared in our classroom giving us a task to do_.

.........

" _Checkmate_..."

"Huh!?" Taiga slammed both his hands down on the table, almost knocking over the discarded chess pieces by the board. A simple game to waste the afternoon break-time away, Sumire and I have already made final touch-ups on our festival booths (her escape room with Renma and I ended up partnering up with Saku and Machi as an extra actor in the booth), as well as Taiga who decided we play this game in the first place.

_He went against both of us individually and still lost by a large margin as expected._

"You move this one too early..." Sumire pointed out. "If you used your soldier to block my way then your king wouldn't be taken out too quickly...."

"Y-you said that but _you just declared checkmate in just two moves!?_ "

"More accurately, it's called the _'Fool's Mate'_." I explained, "If you accidentally move two of your pawns forward and making the king vulnerable, the opposing side would only move one pawn to make way for their queen to go for the kill in just two moves...."

" _So you're saying it's called that because I made a stupid move?_ "

" _Yes, it's a huge mistake..._ " Both Sumire and I answered honestly.

The marksman groaned, head laying down on the table to signify his defeat and ending the match there, with him not scoring any point from both of us. The investigator and I began to clean up the board to return to its rightful owner _until an uninvited entity barged into the room_ , " _Salutations, my fellow students!_ "

Taiga jerked back to life, "H-Hey!? M-Mr. Kageo...?"

" _What is it this time_....." Sumire sighed, clearly exhausted from receiving _favors_ that the businessman asked of her. "Did you come here to ask one of us to participate in your events again? _I'm not interested in get all sliced-up again_...." _  
_

_She's talking about the Ultimate Ringmaster's sword-box trick_.

"Worry not!! This is just a simple task for you three and the other one as well!!" He sound so boastful about it. "I'm sure you are all aware about the _Tsukimi festival_ that's coming up, right?"

" _Isn't Taiga already working on it?_ " I asked the marksman and received a nod in reply. "You already have one here, why need three more helpers? Your company is the one aiding the students in their preparations, right?"

"Indeed, but!! This is a very special task I've prepared for you three and Nao as well!!" Kageo revealed the other person who will be helping us. "If you connect the two dots, _it's about my son's birthday!!_ "

_Total silence_

".... Eh? _He never told you about that?_ "

"Hira never told us about his birthday?" Sumire clarifies, looking bewildered. "This is the first time we've heard about it?"

"He dodged that question like a bullet every time we asked him..." I continued. "So we sort of gave up after he ignored us for the tenth time....."

"But wow, makes sense his birthday is on the day of _Tsukimi festival_...." Taiga exclaimed. I agree, _*his family name_ and _Tsukimi_ have rather strong connections to one and another. But the real shock factor here is that; _his birthday is in two days_.

"What's this task first?" I asked, standing my ground as I folded my arms against my chest. "We don't want to rush things and the academy is still preparing for the _Cultural Festival_ , you know?"

"No worries because I got permission from your teacher here!!" Kageo stepped aside, revealing our psychologist teacher who has a frown on his face. "He's kind, indeed, letting me borrow you three for a while!!"

" _I only did this because I owe you a favor, Kageo_....." Hisao sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Goodness me, you haven't change _at all_......"

" _Oh, still mad about that accident?_ "

" _You literally ruined my reputation_....." the psychologist shook his head. "But I will overlook it this time. After all, I can't be seen being unprofessional in front of my students!! Like what this bastard said, _Sumire, Taiga, Eiichi and Nao will be helping out with the preparations for the festival for couple of days_..."

Suddenly, I felt my phone vibrating against my pocket and I immediately turn it on, to see if it's Nara and sure enough, _the sender confirmed i_ t;

**Nararan**! > [ " _nara wants Sumi and Eii to accept the request!! teacher predicts something bad happening soon!!_ " ]

_A threat related to the Tsukimi festival_. That's why teacher easily agreed to a rather late proposal. _He got tipped off by someone else about this thing_. "Alright, we will help..." I turned off my phone, the investigator just checked hers right after I said it. "But we will check back if we need anything-"

"Great!! But I need to confirm one more thing with your teacher here!!" The show host wrapped his arm around the psychologist's neck without a warning, "Us adults have a lot work to do!!" and then dragged them outside.

_Hisao looked like he gave up at this point._

_Another message went through._ This time, Sumire and I answered it simultaneously;

**MafuHisa-Sensei** > [ " _meeting at the counselor's room, nara's there_ " ]

' _Another meeting_....' "Well then, Sumi and I will go and check whatever the heck Mr. Kageo's proposal is....too bad, we have to skip over our usual fruit parlor-date with Nara for today....." it's becoming a routine for the three of us to hang out at the shop the hacker recommended back then. "Taiga, if you need help, just text us right away!"

"Unless you guys have the strength to make _mochi_ all day, I will!!" the marksman replied with a grin. "But I have everything under control at my side so there shouldn't be any problem!! After all, I don't want to make the festival really boring for everyone!!"

" _Save some for us if you're done making them_....We will be looking forward to it!!" Sumire giggles as she gently guided me to the door and then pushed me out of the classroom. Once we're out of the marksman's view, we began discussing along the way, " _Did you see the way teacher's expression changed?_ "

"Yeah, he looks really reluctant to include us in this..." I answered truthfully. Hisao's cocky.... _which is his usual attitude,_ so to see him being hesitated already brought up a lot of warning flags.

"There's nothing much I can find on them so far...." Sumire added in. "I only managed to weed out a few of their people but _they're just indirect connections_...."

" _Even from that, there's no loose ends?_ " I asked.

"They're doing this rather cleanly...." she's biting her thumb now. "Those people don't want to reveal things easily _and we're running out of time here_...."

We're supposed to report our findings to Hope's Peak Academy at the end of every seasons. We're midway into autumn but we still don't have any valuable breakthroughs to report back. There were tips being sent to them and the Future Foundation for further surveillance during spring and summer so it would be a huge slap in the face if we report back empty-handed instead.

"Anyways, let's see what teacher wanted to talk-" We've just arrived in front of the counselor's room when heard something shattered inside followed by a yell, "- _Teacher!?_ "

I immediately swung open the door with all my might as Sumire entered the room before I could, " _What's going on here? What happened!?_ "

"Ah.... _you two_....." Teacher is leaning against his desk, his trembling hands set on its surface. "..... Nara, _you may repeat your next plan to them if you're not yet satisfied with our final decision_....."

" _And with that, Nara will!!_ " With one glance, it seems the noise we heard earlier was the tea cup that the psychologist kept in this room's cabinet. _And its shattered pieces scattered by the robot's feet_. " _Sumi! Eii-chan!! Because you will listen to Nara no matter what!! You agree to Nara's plan, right!?_ "

"What is this plan exactly?" I stepped forward, demanding for answers. "Why are you acting so hostile towards teacher? _Explain yourself_...."

" _D-Don't threaten Nara like that!! Nara's trying to prove that she's serious about it!!_ " the robot shivered once it met my gaze. I'm not in the mood to play her games so of course, I must have a really intense look on my face right now. " _N-Nara thinks that with this serious threat we've just found!! It would make sense for Nara to locate this threat to take care of it directly using the Ultimate Roboticist's special upgrade!!_ "

" _ **No**_..." Sumire and I answered directly and simultaneously. We don't need any explanation about this said upgrade. Nara is known for her aggressive methods of trying to get rid of a problem. If she's doesn't like something then _she will removed it instantly, no matter the consequences_.

" _W-Why!?_ " Nara whimpers. " _Why did Nara's only friends rejected her proposal!! No fair!!_ "

"Nara, how many times do I have to tell you this...." Sumire's voice stays firm. "If you ever approached them directly, you will only risk exposing yourself. Not only that, with all the information you've collected on others and from this school, the culprits will make use of it once you've been caught....."

" _Nara is not that reckless!! She well-aware of her position and won't do anything that stupid to expose herself!!_ " Her robotic hands flailed around. " _Maybe if teacher and Sumi would stop playing games with the culprits we would have stopped them by now!! **Nara have only seen you two being useless instead**!_"

Hisao and Sumire' breath hitched, eyes widened when that sentence escaped from the robot's heated stupor. Nara didn't say anything after or even back-tracked.

' _This will only get out of hand_....' "That's enough, Nara...." I approached the robot with a jammer device in hands as I kneel down. "You can be frustrated about it all you want but in the end, what you're planning here isn't better than what we're trying to do. _If you have the desire to eliminate the culprits then go ahead but if you get in trouble because of it..... then_ _we won't help you since you think our efforts are useless instead_......."

" _E-Eiichi_ -"

"I'm kicking you out right now...." The device dangerously hovers close to them, "I want you to take the rest of the afternoon to rethink what you've said just now and _try to even justify yourself_....."

".... _Fine then, Nara will go offline for now_...."

"We will see you later then, Nara.... just text back if you wanted to go online sooner instead...." I carefully placed the device onto the robot as it shuts down almost instantaneously. With the empty presence of the hacker, the silence she left us with and the atmosphere gotten really heavy. ' _I can't tell if it's a slip of a tongue or not, she clearly need the time to reevaluate herself_...'

"Eiichi...." the psychologist called out to me. "I.... apologized for not handling that argument better than I should. I'm... _not that strong towards persistent people_....."

"It's fine, teacher... I can see she crossed the line with that sentence just now....." I reassured him. "And I didn't expect her to say it as well so I'm just as shocked as you two here. It's for the best to let her to relax a bit before we could try and reasoned with her again ... right, Shino-"

Her eyes glazed over, the more I inspected it, a really different emotions was shown in them that I've never seen before in her, _'Is she... scared....?'_ " _Shino!_ "

That brought her back into reality. Furiously blinking as if she's trying to comprehend the room she's in, she almost stumbled backwards before saying, "I.... need to go and check on Nao.... I want to know if she's aware about Mr's Kageo's request.... teacher, Eii, _if you would excuse me_...."

She didn't wait for us to reply back, instead she excused herself and then exited the room without sparing a single glance towards us. Did Nara's words accidentally struck a nerve in her?

"Oh dear... _I was afraid that would happened_...." Hisao sighed. "... You should go check on her as well, Eiichi. It wouldn't be ideal to leave her alone like that....."

' _There's no way I would want to leave her alone when she's that shaken up_...' "I will, teacher... but first, we wanted to know about the details for the _Tsukimi Festival_ that we're supposed to be do..."

"Ah right, I almost forgot...." The psychologist collected the papers next to him as if he was anticipating our arrival before Nara.... _made a scene_.

 _Minor decorations and set-ups_ , that's all we're needed for. Apparently Kageo needed the ghostwriter's imitation skills for the banners and the other three for the tea ceremonials and flower arrangements preparations.

 _I hoped we can managed to complete all of that with the heavy effects of our first group fight_.

* * *

' _There she is_.....' In the garden area, I can spotted Sumire and Nao working on the calligraphy banner as part of the show host's task. The investigator seemed... _okay_ , for now? She looked better than she was just now, ' _At least she calmed down for now.... that's good...._ ' "Shino, Nao? Sorry I'm late, I just asked teacher about everything we're supposed to work on....."

"Oh!! I see.... well, I've heard Tai's working on the flower arrangement things now with one of the club leaders here....." Nao's stuttering is barely there. The more she hang out with us, the most active she's becoming, "We're almost done with this!! We can meet up with Taiga later to check their progress!!"

"I see...." My eyes wandered over the investigator instead, her expression this time seemed indifferent. As if she has already gotten over what happened just now. "Is there anything I can help with then..?"

Nao suggested that I made outlines for each letters on the banner for her to make smoother brush strokes, and so I did what I was told with my best effort. Throughout the planning, I kept an eye out for Sumire, in case she's acting all shifty again.... _and she seemed uncomfortable by something_...?

"Ah!!" Nao immediately stood up with her phone in her hand. "T-The banner's all finished up so you two can go see Taiga if you want! I need to see Renma first!!"

The small ghostwriter fled from the garden, leaving just the two of us behind. _This might not be the perfect time to ask but_ \- "Hey, Shino-"

" _Nara's right, you didn't have to do that to limit her contact_...." the investigator suddenly made a statement from the earlier dilemma. "I didn't managed to say anything since... I didn't predict that person would even have it in her to insult someone in front of them but... _should have known better from a criminal, huh_....."

The hacker's status as a _blackhatter_ almost disappeared from my mind completely. She has done many dubious things in the past but even with that, Sumire, for some reason, trusted her enough with this case and not completely turned against us.

"I really don't want to spoil her by being passive now...." I sat down next to her. "She keeps getting things out of people by being too overbearing and they will do it just to have her leave them alone. _She really needs to change her focus here_...."

"I'm curious, _Eii_ , _how is she different than teacher and I?_ " Sumire murmured, working on something in her hands. " _Both of us have different focuses as well_....."

"Shino, _I hope you realized that most of breakthroughs here were done by you and was discovered much more earlier than we first anticipated_...." During our first semester even, _she's_ the one who set things in motion. The threats, the culprits and all those minor clues that we merely found by ourselves were easily deduced by the investigator herself. "Teacher even made sure we have easy access to everything and as an instructor, _he can't put too much focus on us_ -"

"Hey! Hey!! Hey!!! Gross dating is strictly prohibited on the campus!!!" Suddenly, Sumire and I got hold back by a certain physician. Fuji, with a wide smile on his face, continued to bellow, "Love is truly a youthful thing but please don't waste it on a one-off talk- _Ackh!!_ "

Without a heads-up, my fist aimed for his face as the investigator aimed for his stomach, pushing him back in annoyance. _This person seriously don't know the meaning of personal space_.

"J-Jokes aside... I sense a troublesome air looming over that fiend's students....." His hostile attitude towards the psychologist still remains a mystery. "He also plead to me that I would help you two out!!"

" _Don't lie_...."

" _Tsk_ , fine, he merely asked me to watch over you two...." It seems like the physician didn't approached us out of the blue, he brought a huge wooden mortar with him, possibly for the mochi-making that Taiga mentioned before. "He have also asked Ms. Koyasu as well..."

"Where is she?" I asked.

" _Here_...." as proof, the physician dumped the counselor that's been hiding in the wooden mortar this entire time. She rolled out of it, all curled-up like a ball, "Your dearest counselor don't have the energy to walk so as a youthful man with great physique, I decided to carry her wherever she wants to go!!"

" _I-I see_....."

"Ms. Hoshino..... I have heard of your feud with Ms. Katou from Hisao....." Ryuko sat up slowly. "As your counselor, I would do my best to offer any advice to rekindle that friendship if you want-"

"There's no need for that, _Ms. Ryuko_...." Huh? Why did she referred to her by her given name? "Nara's.... _a bit special here_...... she knows well to not be low about pursuing things she deemed interesting enough....... the hacker's ways has always been straightforward yet brash but I expected nothing less than letting her operate in that way....."

"That's not the expected reasoning behind it, isn't it, Ms. Hoshino....?" Ryuko clarified. "As a previous child from an abandoned institution, you must have been deeply hurt by it...."

" _ **Shut up**_...." Sumire snapped. I almost flinched from her sudden display of aggression.

" _ **Ryuko**_...." Fuji frowned as he warned the counselor. "... We should not bring up the details of our students right in front of them, _**especially when the details are far too insensitive for us to use against them**_......"

"You're right... _my apologies_....." Ryuko cleared her throat as she continued. "Forgive my abrupt inclusion of your history, it's a force of habit so I will take my leave now since I've done something.... _unforgivable_.... I am open for further consultation between you and Nara if you would like.... I am this academy's counselor after all..... Mr. Nishida, would mind taking me to see the other second year students? _I'm not prepared to walk up the stairs yet_...."

" _When will you ever be_...." Fuji sighed as he watched Ryuko crawled back into the huge wooden mortar. "I've received the new information given by that fiend and hacker, I understand where the tension stemmed from. But do keep in mind, _you three are merely students sent by Hope's Peak to solve our issues here."_

"If anything, this kind of fight shouldn't be your main issue here.... after all, _all Ultimate students will soon forget about each other once they've graduated indulging in lifetime successes_....."

' _It won't last long for us_......' We watched as the duo walked away. ' _We didn't make any progress at all while Nara did called us out on that one.... partially but it's not right for her to dragged the other two down with it_.....' And now those two's trying to get us to move one from it-

"... _disappear_....."

"What was that-" I suddenly got pulled forward as the investigator grabbed me by the front of my shirt. "H-Hey!?"

" _I'll disappear for a while_....." her icy glare is back. "... _take care of Nara and Nao while I'm gone.... I will be back as soon as I can_....."

She lets go, turning her heel away from me without another word. The way she pressed onto her words made my knees weak altogether, ' _I-I guess this is one of her meditating moments again.... disappearing off as usual.... like any other normal private detective....._ '

This ' _meditating process_ ' was told to me by Renma whe he witnessed the investigator leaving the room and didn't come back until a day later with a solution to his minor problem. I just brushed it off as one of her moments there until I realised that specific detail in her sentence, ' _ **Why Nao**?_'

* * *

The rest of afternoon preparation went along without a problem, I helped out Taiga and Nao with the remaining task while observing Nao's behavior. Now that Sumire asked me to keep that in mind, the ghostwriter's activeness did seemed a bit... _off_. She's more assertive that before, and dare I say, unhinged-

"By the way, Eii-chan, where's Sumi?" Nao asked, staring at my face with a concern look. "She wasn't looking too well earlier and I thought something bad happened......"

"She's..... _alright_ , Shino just needed some alone time...." I sprinkled in a bit kinder words before the next sentence. " _She's on a trip now so we should expect her return in a day_....."

" _ **She what**_...."

" _This is normal, just ask Renma_......" I tried to reassured them. "This is just one of her many absurd things to do. _Let's just hope she came back with a more acceptable reason this time_......"

"B-But she's still amazing!!" Nao began to ramble. "With how much willpower she within her to solve those difficult cases, no doubt her dedication is something to behold of. Something that you can only read from a fictional book!! There's no doubt she's a huge eye candy for all mystery-lovers out there...."

" _ **That's so creepy**_......" That seriously reminded me when we first came to this academy, how that mailman completely fawned over her with no limitation.

"Still, that side of hers is quite alluring....." her empty gaze and slight smile made this whole conversation already unsettling. ".... _You wouldn't blame them for getting too smitten by it_....."

' _I-I'm not sure if this is a sudden change of personality or not, I'm too scared to asked if she's always like this_.... _i-it's a risky thing to ask right now_...'

Taiga, who seemed completely oblivious to this ( _bless his ignorance, he doesn't need to know what's going on here_ ), proceed the whole conversation as normal, completely ignoring the previous statement. I tried to salvage it as much as I could while completely pushing back the comment by the ghostwriter at the dark recesses of my mind. _Maybe, just maybe, this is Sumire's way to urged me to look more into the ghostwriter's reputation just in case_.

* * *

' _Teacher isn't here_....' Using the spare key to the counselor's room, I'm glad that the psychologist left the feline robot untouched this entire time, with the jammer device still placed on its chest. Nara didn't sent us any text or early pleas to retrieve her body back so I waited till evening to gave her the access. ' _Well, let's see if she's still around_......'

The moment I removed the device, the immediate burst of energy coursed through the robot as it has his arms up, " _Nara's b-a-c-k!!!_ "

"Wow, you actually waited till evening?"

" _Y-Yes!!_ " I sense hesitation in her voice. " _Nara has given her thoughts into her statement and I would like express my grief towards teacher and Sumi!! Nara was just upset that she didn't get to show her full potential so that misplacement of anger is totally uncalled for!!!_ "

"I'm glad you actually feel bad about it though...." This is kind of difficult to say. "But teacher already forgave you, he sent me a text when I asked him about your current whereabouts....."

" _Then what about Sumi? I'm sure she would be happy to have Nara grovelled all over her feet_ -"

"She disappeared...."

" _Huh!?_ "

"She will be gone for a while but she will be back, _in time for you to beg at her feet_....." _The timing is really perfect for something that's about to be resolved peacefully, huh_. "But as long as you apologized then it's enough....."

" _I-I see_...." I can hear Nara breathed out a sigh of relief. " _N-Nara thought Sumi disappeared for real and...... Nara doesn't want her friends to get hurt ever again so I hoped Sumi came back to us soon!!_ "

' _Perhaps she really didn't mean it before_.....' Her silence from before really is her proof that she's also stunned by what she said. I really hope that... we get to see the real hacker herself and not this robot self instead. Nara did promised us soon, she will surely stopped the shenanigans once we've reached into our final year at the academy.

"..... I really thought you're still going to stand by your words this time....." I confessed. "I was really prepared with total disappointment I'm about to show even....."

" _E-Eii-chan really have low opinions about this poor Nara here_..." the hacker replied. "... _Nara have been acting unfair to Sumi.... she's the one who saved Nara from the cold grasp of the Gates of Judgement!! Which is why Nara wanted to show her gratitude even more!!_ "

' _Shino did mentioned that part before.... she even said it as a passing fact instead...._ ' Still, Sumire cared a lot about Nara to even not allowing her to do something reckless that could endanger her life. She did told me before she purposely made up that ' _poisoning her whole apartment_ ' punishment thing as an attempt to distract the hacker and made use of her skills in a different way.

' _REALLY excessive and unnecessary_ , _but... let's see how things will work out once she returned_....' I really hoped the investigator is as forgiving as Nara, who made up her mind in a day. Knowing her personally, _it might take her more than a day to fully forgive someone...._.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Tsukimi is a tradition of viewing the full moon phase during autumn. 'Mochizuki' also means 'full moon' and Higura's birthday is on the day of the moon-viewing.


	12. XI. Tsukimi Act II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The light of the full moon shines on but the darker side still lurks within it.

" _Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!!_ " The show host announced loudly into his microphone. "I'm sure everyone's having a marvelous time on this very day, a special ' _Tsukimi Festival_ ' organised by the _Yumeino Ultimate Academy_ to celebrate our hardworking individuals and hoping for a greater harvest for the future!! _I would also like to dedicate today's event to my adorable son, whose birthday-_ "

" _ **Taiga, do you have your gun with you? I want you to shoot that motherfucker there**_...."

" _Haha, no, I don't want to do that again, Higura_..."

" _ **Then shoot me instead, I would rather die instantaneously than to fucking die from humiliation**_...."

"How many times must I remind you guys, I'm not some pest control!!" Taiga whined out loud. I patted his back for comfort, "I wanted to have a good track record, I really don't want to be known as the academy's troublemaker here!!"

"You are.... _you're just that easy to fool_....." I joked. "But Higura didn't mean it, he's just really embarrassed by all the attention his father directed at him. _Our little Hirarin is a bit shy in the inside as well_..."

" _ **Fucker, I will bury you**_...." the graphic designer hissed as I held my hands up as an act of defense. "W-Whatever!! I'm only here because I got dragged out of my own comfort zone by my good-for-nothing father who insists I should at least _**tolerate**_ what he's putting up for my birthday!!"

"... _Mr. Kageo said you willingly came out of your hiding because of certain people_....."

"W-Wha-!? Who told you that!?" Higura's face turned scarlet red all of the sudden. "D-Did he told you guys just to fucking blackmail me!?"

" _Why would he indirectly blackmail his own son....?_ " I sighed at his constant denial. "It's not a secret anymore, Higura. You're clearly here because someone asked you to..... _and that your father is using them as an excuse_....."

"I-I've already told _them_ many times to stay away... guess it's too late, they ended up attracting other students' attention more instead..." Higura's addressing one of the mystery that the Ultimate students have been experiencing for the past few months. " ** _And_** _**t** ** _hat_ fucking old man knew I can't say no to them**_...."

"But it's still sweet of you for getting all worried about them!!" Taiga smiled, clearly ignoring Higura's glare at the moment. "We didn't know you're that close to your relatives.... speaking of which, _where are they?_ "

"If you're talking about _the great Ōtsuki family_ then their presence remains a mystery for now....." the show host, Kageo, joined our group as soon as he finished his opening speech. "Such a family don't have time to mingle with commoners unfortunately, _they truly took after the Togami family of the past_...."

"Isn't the head of the family a bastard child from one of the Togami family in the past...?" It's a common knowledge by now, as far as I'm concerned. Even the person in question pride himself about it in public. "How did you break away from such a thing....?"

"It all happened when I met my beautiful wife, a certain ripple in their bloodline... _and what happened after that will only remained as hushed-out_ _rumors_....." Kageo glanced over Higura who immediately looked away when he heard that. "But! we're still keeping our head forward into the future!! After all, _this festival is also our family's tradition to celebrate our future together!!_ "

" _Mochizuki and Tsukimi does go well together_....." Taiga remarked. "... By the way, Eii-chan, where's Sumi? You said she will be here right?"

 _Right, about that_... " _She's still gone_..."

" _What!?_ " Taiga and Higura exclaimed in shock, leaving the show host not quite grasping the situation here. Higura stepped forward, "It's been two days, how the hell is she not back yet!?"

" _D-Do you think something really bad happened at her workplace_...?" Taiga nervously asked.

"Is this about that young Hoshino....?" Kageo butts in. "I've heard about those habits of hers from Iwao, isn't that perfectly normal for that little investigator?"

"She usually keep in touch with us during her trip but this time, _she completely went silent_...." even Nara, who actually came here with me, was panicking when we haven't received anything from Sumire yet. For the past two days, the hacker was starting to believe it was her fault for driving her away, "And we can't really visit her workplace _because of obvious reasons_....."

"I will call up Iwao if he knows anything...." the show host immediately pulled out his phone, looking through his contact list. "That's strange.... he's not the type to let his student to wander off like that... so I thought it was just his usual thing-"

"Hey, old man, there's something else I wanted to ask you about as well..." the graphic designer cuts him off before asking him in a hush voice. " _Where's Rui and Yoichi? I don't give a shit if those bastards aren't coming but what about those two?_ "

"A-Ah....." Kageo cleared up his throat. "I-I did received a message asking for their whereabouts just now and they already tore apart their house looking for them s-so...."

" _So they are around here_....." Higura gritted his teeth. "I've already told them to stay away from public places... _it's too dangerous for them to go out all by themselves_...."

 _Ōtsuki Rui, was it?_ The youngest member of the family. Someone who was surprisingly doted on by Higura, of all people, "Do you want us to search for them? _I have a brief idea on what they look like_...."

The strange occurrences that's been happening at the academy; _feeling of being watched, items being moved or cleaned when not looking and hearing unfamiliar voices when you're alone_.... _they were actually caused by these two people_.

"I told them time and time again to not follow me here but they still won't listened....." Higura sighed out of frustration. "Especially with the head family currently got their hands around my throat, I can't risk bringing them into danger like that...."

"No worries!! We will look for them!!" Taiga grabbed my shoulder. "It would be such a waste to spend your birthday being all negative so we will help you out!!!"

"Fine, _you better fucking mean it_....." Even with the obscenity, it doesn't hide the concern tone he has. "We will check around the crowds. _Try scouting around the isolated areas instead_ a _nd if I see so much of a scratch on them, you two are dead-meats_...."

'.... _Our heads are also on the line here_.....' Both groups split up, I sent the overall situation to Nara to see if she has the surveillance under her control as well. But, I still can't push my thought of Sumire's disappearance away to focus on the this one instead, _it still feels like something else's missing_.

* * *

" _Hm_.... _nope, not here_...." Taiga stepped out of the shrine, lowering his head as to careful not to bump into the low ceiling and out of respect for the spirits residing here. "I thought this would be a perfect place for children to hide..... guess not...."

" _Unless they're brave enough to do it, I don't think so_....." They could have left earlier before us, if that's the case. We've already combed through most of the places that others aren't supposed to enter but we still turned up nothing in the end. " _Nara said she hasn't seen anything on her side even_...."

"Right, I forgot she was with us just now....." Taiga muttered. ".... _Did something happened between her and Sumi?_ She sounds really anxious earlier when we were talking about Sumi...."

"Huh..? Why would you think that...?"

"I can tell whenever people got into a fight with someone they're close with, _it's quite easy_...." the marksman explained. "I got into plenty of fights before so I sort of read her actions earlier as something bad happening between you guys...."

".... _Yeah, you're right._...." I sighed, as long as I leave out some major details, _it should be fine_. "Well, it's mostly Nara who started it. She said something that made Shino upset and I tried to diffuse the situation before it could even escalated. I thought about keeping her mind off of that fight but _her mood just keep getting worst_....."

I tried to leave out the physician and counselor's involvement as well. Although what they did was as equally as bad as Nara's, _I would like for them to live longer and be safe from Taiga and Machi_. "..... I guess those were the things that made her run away....."

"I see.... well, I don't get what's the fight all about but I won't pry around, no worries!! Hope you guys resolved it soon!! I was glad that Sumi had rather close friends like you guys around!!" Taiga exclaimed. ".... _Kind of failed on that one_....."

"Huh? What was that?"

"N-Nothing!!" His face reddened. " _L-Let's continue on our search, shall we!!_ "

' _Weird_...' The marksman quickly walked past by me without looking back, accidentally missing a step or so as if he's not paying attention. '.... _I wonder what's that all about, he pretty much befriended most of us, especially her_ -'

My eyes widened once I remember the last conversation I had with Renma, right in front of the shrine and combining that piece of information with the result just now, ' _No way..... are you serious!?_ ' "Fucking hell, I hope she didn't dash his hope away too soon....."

I tried to catch up with Taiga who thankfully haven't gone that far, he got his energy back and completely forgot the whole thing just now. We barely made a step back to reunite with Higura and his father before Taiga pulled me in, hiding behind the bushes, " _Shhh...! Can you hear that...?_ "

I was about to yell at him before I heard another pair of footsteps, through the small openings of the bushes, I can see two large figures with the smaller ones- ' _D-Don't tell me that's them..? Rui and Yoichi, they're not that far apart in age_..... _fuck, was this threat directed towards Kageo's family instead?!_ '

For the targets to be from both influential families, the academy will get screwed over and this culprit we're chasing.... _they're switching up their choices instead to avoid us_.

'.... _Shino didn't want us to act brash because of the people involved in it_....' my eyes widened in revelation. '.... _She must have known that they're switching up, she must have been anticipating it.... that's why she has to turned Nara's request down for it_.....'

" _Fuck, why does she have to be gone right now instead!?_ " I hissed those words through my clenched teeth. This could have been the perfect moment to catch these people-

Without realizing, the marksman jumped out of the bushes and charged towards the tall hooded figures, " _Taiga, wait-!!!_ "

My voice caught their attention but they're too late to notice the other intruder in their pathway. Taiga took this advantage as he punched the figure in the jaw as he stumbled, the marksman then aimed for his kneecaps, striking him down as he restrained him, " _The other one-!!_ "

The hooded figure' companion was about to leave before I caught onto them... _as something else hit him in the head with a loud thud, knocking him down, unconscious_.

"What the....?" The people that Higura was looking for, _Rui and Yoichi_ , clung onto me as I was searching for the thing that hit the assailant. " _A.... boomerang?_ "

" _Eii-chan!!!_ " From afar, I can hear Nara's robotic voice booming through the forest as it jumped onto me as well. " _N-Nara's glad she made it!! S-She thought that we will be late!!_ "

"We....?" _Don't tell me_. Just when I lifted my head up, my suspicion is right, "... _Shino_...."

"Yeah, yeah... I'm back...." Sumire sounds really irritated instead. "Back from purgatory, I thought changing things up would make a huge significant difference _but I guess there's no use of changing thing when there's unforeseen circumstances_....."

"W-What are you talking about? _Also, where have you been!?_ " That's the important part here, because she seemed to allowed herself get caught by Nara here, the source of her disappearance.

" _Later_ , we have some company...." She patted on Rui's head, the blonde kid who I always saw stalking Higura from afar. " _Hey there, you're safe now, okay? Big brother Hira will be here any seconds now._...."

Immediately, Rui clings onto her like a magnet and Yoichi, the messy brown haired one, hesitantly letting go of my arm to accompany the other. ' _All three people really turned up okay in the end, that's a relief.... but.... what the hell did Shino do during her two-days disappearance....?_ '

* * *

After almost getting my throat slit by Higura and a massive gratitude being given to me by Kageo, Sumire filled-in Nara and I with what she's been doing once it's just the three of us. Taiga went ahead to check on the security guards for the festival, asking them to keep a lookout for any suspicious individuals.

The investigator actually went out of her way, _literally and figuratively_ , sending a fake command to the supposed culprits, of the group that the psychologist keep in touch with, to meet up at secluded area of the forest once they've done their task given by the group itself.

 _Their task which includes kidnapping the_ _Ōtsuki's heir._

"I thought luring them out here means I could trapped them before Kaoru and the rest of his gang arrived but _guess it didn't happened_....." Sumire sighed, as she looked at Nara, still an empty gaze. "... _Which means it still doesn't mean anything to you, right?_ "

' _Ugh, she's still mad_.....' I swallowed down the lump in my throat. ' _She made all that planning and it got ruined instead_....'

"N-Nara can defend herself on this one!!" the hacker persists. "S-Sumi's planning is too flawed as if she could handle two people on her own and thinking we wouldn't know it's her doing here!! And she also overlooks Hira's overbearing caretaker senses over those two!!"

"Hmm, I see.... so you can still criticized my own planning when _yours could have hurt everyone involved in it_...." Sumire cuts through her argument. "I wonder what would happened if they discovered your presence here in this academy instead...."

' _Okay, that's it, I don't want to disappoint Taiga's content of us being close_....' " _ **That's enough you two, this is getting ridiculous**_...." I raised my voice. "How long are you going to outwit each other? Until we accidentally let the culprit get away? If that happened, who's gonna take the blame? _Who's interested in being the sole purpose of that failure?_ "

No one wants to take that for themselves, Sumire didn't say anything but Nara's shifting a lot. _A perfect showcase of their attitude_ , "Nara said something wrong and Shino did something unnecessary to prove her point so _would you two just please knock it off already?_ At this point, everyone's doubting your liabilities....."

" _Hnnngh_...." Nara's the first one who broke. " _Nara's.... sorry for dismissing all the hardwork that Sumi and teacher have been focusing in..... Nara's too impatient into jumping onto things that... she didn't think about the people involved..... Nara thought the faster we solved this case, the less people will disappeared_....."

" ** _They won't stop, no matter what_**... _that's what I've found out..._..." Sumire remarked. "If you didn't make me look into their pattern more, I wouldn't have noticed this new piece of information _so not all insults has gone into waste_...."

They're making up, _that's one thing_ , but what she said after that was something too crucial to not elaborate. "What do you mean? Are they changing their tactics??"

"The reason why we didn't get anything new from them, _they're getting more physical_....." the investigator explained. "What happened during _Hanami_ was just a test run for them, as well as this one. _Rather than just passing notes, they're going to approach us in a more direct way._...."

She continued on, ".... _This is just a reminder_ , what will happened after this is going to be much more worst. I've overheard these two talking yesterday when I scouted out their temporary location..... it's another start to their own game, ' _ **The Ultimate Hunt**_ '....."

' _ **The Ultimate Hunt**_ ', that has to be the name of their kidnappings of those Ultimate students. _There's no other way around it_. There hasn't been any disappearance cases when we first entered here so if this _Ultimate Hunt_ is starting up now, _**it will happened again**_.

"Mentor and Uncle Raisei will catch wind of it first before I report back to the headmaster of _Hope's Peak_ and the _Future Foundation_....." said the investigator. "We don't want them to interfere us too much and limiting our resources. I will send the address to Kaoru for further inspection and we will have to be vigilant on this coming _Cultural Festival_...."

"Why would the aim to make a move during a crowded day...." It will only attract too much witnesses. ".... _Unless it's just part of their plan_....."

" _Understood!! Which means Nara has to keep her eyes on each and every areas of the academy as much as she could!!_ " the hacker volunteered. " _As long as her eyes reaches the further edge of the map, nothing can escape from Nara!!_ "

"We will be counting on you, Nara...." Sumire smiled as she patted the robot. "I'm sorry for trying to prove you wrong as well... _in the end, your words made me look at this situation from a different angle_....."

If Nara didn't forced Sumire out of it, she wouldn't have discovered it earlier. We would have totally unprepared for it. _But, she did and we know now their next new pattern_.

' _In the end, something good actually came out of the fight... even though it's something really terrifying to hear_.....' I looked up at the full moon hovering above us. ' _On a day where we celebrate and wish for a good bounty in the future.... I hope this effect reaches until we get to the end of it_...'

" _ **So, that's how the story goes**_...."

A laughter almost escaped through their mouth, holding it back by placing their hand on their mouth, eyes opened with a huge grin on their face as they watched the three people they adored left the area, " _Interesting_... _they're so interesting_..... I've never seen a much more interesting set of character like them before...!"

They soon left the area as well, their grin still haven't disappeared from their face, " _A trapped box, a deceiving look and an untouchable force,_ I wanna destroy all of those things..... _this truly is a perfect time... for the **Ultimate Hunt** to begin_...."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter arc will be the Cultural Festival and "Boy, Are We Excited For That™"


	13. XII. Festive Act I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yumeino Ultimate Academy For Elites' Cultural Festival has finally begun!! With everyone in a rush to entertained their guests, another trouble started to stir behind the scene.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually finished this chapter arc way quicker than I expected lol  
> Maybe because of the anticipated Wild Ride™ that will transpired from now on, who knows. 
> 
> I also post updates on [twitter](https://twitter.com/dr_mdst)! So give a follow if you want some heads-up or updates on the next chapter or project!!

_The first day of the Cultural Festival is finally here. And as expected, everything's hectic before the actual guests arrival..._

" _Foo_..."

" _Gyah!?_ " The marksman almost dropped the box full of miscellaneous junks before I caught it with my right foot to break its fall. _It seems a certain ghost has successfully wrapped their arms around his neck_. "W-What is this!? Am I getting dragged back to hell again!?"

"Fufufu, _I have found myself some delicious life essence_...." Renma chuckled behind his ears, the same way he tried to scare me from our first encounter. " _I will just help myself then_....."

" _Eek!!_ Go away, go away!!!" Taiga scrambled to escape from the tight grasp of the ghost threatening to eat him alive. "E-Eii-chan, help me! Please!!"

" _No_ , _**suffer**_...." I have suffered too much under the medium's grasp just for his acting practice. He has been terrorizing me all week long and I'm not letting this peaceful moment slipped away this time. Right when I was about to leave those two behind, another ghost appeared and put me under a head-locked position instead, " _What the-!?_ "

" _Such a naughty boy.... misbehaving children will get punished severely, you know....?_ " _That voice_...

" _Shino_ , cut it out...." I sighed, not even bother to struggle around. "Also what with that line? That's too suggestive, are you trying scare your guests or arouse them?"

From what I've heard, the escape room created by the Ultimate Private Investigator and Ultimate Medium has some acting going on in it; the players have to solve the riddles inside the room and uncover the mysterious details behind the death of two people. _If they're running out of time or failed to solve it, these two will appear and torment them_.

_However, everyone just knew this is just their excuse to torment people however they like_.

Shino just chuckles as she lets go of my neck, "How boring... I thought I could finally get a more exciting reaction out of you for once...."

"You and Ren have gotten more predictable the more you two practice it on us...." For the past few weeks, they've been practicing their scares on others _and it's been hellish for us to endure_. "But, at least your outfits made it really convincing... _that you guys are dead for once_...."

Mitsuru and Machi has been helping out others who have some sort of acting or performance included in their booth, styling everyone's look before the main event. Renma and Sumire have matching red and black kimono with realistic blood spatter on them, almost mimicking the red-spider lily look. _'Also, nice touch having a magnolia hair pin to tie their hair up....'_

"We can't thank Mitsun enough...." Renma still has his grip around the crying marksman. "We were worried that we were depending on them too much since they have their own booth to work on but she insist on making us ' _beautiful_ ' as she claimed...."

"And indeed, she did...." Sumire replied. "I heard she also going to visit later just to see her beautification effect on other guests..."

" _You wanna grabbed her by the leg?_ "

" _Ren-chan can really read people's mind!_ "

" _ **Don't**_..." I tried to pry the medium's grasp onto the marksman. " _You know she's weak against scary things so don't do that_.... you will ended up getting scolded by Machi, Higura and Saku instead....."

Machi always look after everyone's well-being while Higura and Saku became her unlikely best friends, forming a ragtag team. So combining those three together for a very heated battle, _it sounds really exhausting to deal with them instead_.

"I wouldn't dare to cross _Makkun_ on this very day, he looks particular stressed out earlier...." Renma laughed. " _Pushing a man through his limit would obviously meant a life will be lost on the academy campus_...."

My whole body tense, but I did my best to not show it. We've talking about it, Sumire and I were trying to navigate our way through the academy just to keep everything under control. Nara promised she would do her best to keep an eye out for Hinako, Shoma, Homare, Hibiki and Amane. Their placement are too far apart from our designated location so all we could do is depend on the security cameras under the hacker's control.

The investigator has Renma, Mitsuru, Kiharu, Nao and Higura on her side, their booths are located inside each laboratories of the building so she pretty much have them secured. Saku, Machi, Taiga and Hiroshi are under my care, the last two people have some performance going on at the academy's ground and it's closer to the library as well.

The psychologist and the other three instructors also took note of their positions, Kaoru and his gang (dressed up as the academy's bodyguards) are on stand-by as well. _Almost everyone involved has to be vigilant on everything that will happened today_.

' _And it's during the most anticipated event for both the academy and public as well_.... _it should be that noticeable if there's an accident or something... if they really are planning to hunt down the Ultimate students then-_ '

"Hey, Eii-chan!!" I snapped out of my daydreaming state, Taiga's already ahead of me, free from the medium's hold. "I'm going to meet up with Hiroshi now! Thanks for helping me out!!"

"Y-You're welcome..." I waved goodbye at him. _'I completely missed an entire conversation there....'_

"You better meet up with Machi as soon as you can if you don't want an earful...." Sumire patted my back. "You said so yourself he will scold you if you're late, the festival is starting soon...."

She then placed her hand onto my shoulder, pushing down slightly as I kneel down to her level. " _Just watch out for Saku and Hiroshi_...." she said in a low voice. " _Nara spotted some people that would caused them trouble_....."

"... _Yeah, I will leave now_....." I waited till she lets go of my shoulder as I make my way downstairs, ' _Already, Nara spotted something unfavorable.... I understand Saku's deal but Hiroshi? Why would they go after him...?_ '

Taiga and Hiroshi' performance.... _really says a lot about their interests_. Due to the marksman's love for _superhero shows_ , he thought it would be fun to have a performance revolve around their usage of talents. Taiga plays the role of a superhero and his ultimate talent is being a marksman, but he assured the entire academy's committee that he will be using a different weapon instead that still involves high accuracy.

Hiroshi is the villain here, quick-witted and nimble. He's going to use his own stunts to make the actions seemingly believable despite his injury. All of his acts includes him being suspended in mid-air _so I'm just praying that he won't land himself in the hospital this time_.

I did my usual routine check with them on behalf of the student council; making sure everything's alright, all system working as intended before the actual show. The council president actually starts warming-up to me a bit, _as Sumire expected_. ' _Of course, it's still part of her idea here.... let's see if the results are up to par_....'

Five routine checks later, I finally arrived at the library where Machi's already waiting by the check-out desk, " _ **You're late**_....."

"S-Sorry!! The student council wants me to check on everyone else before the show started!!" I quickly defended myself once I saw his cold glare. "I-It's important, you know!!"

" _Can't deny that_...." Machi sighed heavily. "Anyways, get your things already.... the event's starting soon and you're still standing around in your uniform.... Saku's waiting for you, in the archive room...."

" _R-Right away!!_ "

I ended up being an extra helper for Machi and Saku' exhibition. Machi's actually pretty creative with his; _basing his performance on a certain magical fantasy book series full of wizardry_. With the help of both the _Ultimate Chemist_ and _Ultimate Cosmetologist_ , he was able to replicate that effect which made him seem like he's casting magic on his guest but instead, _it's just some harmless fumes_.

And of course, he has to look grand himself, a long black and purple cloak draped over his black robes with golden-leaf details on it.

Saku based his exhibition on another book as well, _Around The World In 80 Days_. He was able to get hold of the _Ultimate VFX Artist_ and other behind the scene students, _and for some reason he was allowed to fit one life-scale air plane into the library_ , it creates an illusion that guests inside the plane felt like they're experiencing the book journey itself.

' _Just the thought behind each and everyone's exhibition just proved their dedication_....' I smiled to myself as I'm getting ready. ' _And here I am just being an extra.... at least my participation is accepted but I still didn't contribute much so I need to rake up some points next year...._ '

"Is my sidekick ready yet!?" the loudmouthed aerobat threw open the curtains just as I finished my get-up. "Oh! You looked rather nice in it!! Like a real pilot, even though I will be doing the flying here!!"

"Yeah, the same goes to you....." I replied. "I'm still surprised you don't want to do your usual thing for this festival as well, didn't you said you have a fanclub as well...?"

"Ugh, please don't remind me of them...." Saku shivered. "I really don't want to interact clingy people on a stressful day so I'm trying to keep a low-profile here!! Also, I think my aerobat performance won't attract the much attention if it's just me!!"

"You are in a team before...." _Which reminds me_... "What about your team? Do you think they will do well with your absence here?"

"Don't know, don't care!!" He said cheerfully. "I have no thoughts towards superficial people!! Not when my real friends are here in this academy, right, Eii-chan!? If you agree with me, I will give you a kiss, you know!"

" _You will make Hira and Mitsun jealous instead_...." I laughed at his joke as I checked the time on my phone. "It's almost time.... _ready, captain?_ "

"You bet!!" Saku immediately wore his goggles. "I just saw the front entrance was immediately packed!! Perhaps they're here to see Machi since his sisters promoted his exhibition before this during their interviews!!"

" _He sure is popular with the girls_...." much to his dismay, he really didn't want to be under another spotlight. "Look, there's people coming our way, _let's put on an act now, captain_..."

" _I will leave the show to you first, sidekick!!_ "

........

' _The whole experience almost felt real_....'

The way the plane hits a turbulence or even flew really low to the ground, almost everything about it felt really real and the guests seem to enjoy the effects as well. With everyone looking out of their windows in awe as the close images of the man-made wonders entered their view, I could see the excitement in their eyes.

"Strap yourself, everyone!! We will be performing the dive really soon!!" Saku announced teasingly. Almost immediately, the air plane tilted downwards as the engines rived up. I lost my balance and had to hold onto the seat besides me, "Whoops! Should have told you first! Even though it's your fault for preferring to stand around!!"

I rolled my eyes at him, " _You will do it again anyways_.... but so far, it's going really well for us here....."

"Yeah!! I was worried we would have some guest who have motion-sickness secretly sneaked in and blame us for a really great experience!!"

" _We should really be worry about that if it actually happened later_..."

"No worries, Macchan's in charge of the stage above!!" Saku exclaimed. "They will have to go through him to enter this place here!! If they have some sort of problems or what, he would advised them to not go!!"

" _If they insisted?_ "

" _He will cast **a spell** onto them, _he said!!" _I really hope **that spell** doesn't include something physical_. "We're approaching the end of our schedule soon so would you mind sidekick...?"

"Alright, alright...." I put on a cheery mask as I announced. " _Ladies and gentlemen, we will be arriving home soon so please collect your belongings on stand-by. Any missing items that's left here will be placed under the guidance of our good wizard friend from above!!_ "

"Macchan will sure get mad if you called him that!!"

" _His title is too long for me to repeat five times per session_...." Machi wouldn't know about it either. "But that's already the third session, right? You said you're going to check on the engines again...."

"We need to manually check all the things after each session after all...." the aerobat explained. " _We don't want things to explode from inside the library now, do we_...."

" _Good point_...." It's already afternoon time, and I promised some of our classmates that we will be visiting their exhibitions soon. "We'll continue our sessions right after our break, right? I'm gonna visit Shino and Ren at their exhibition..."

In the chat group, _apparently their exhibition is becoming extremely popular and difficult to solve_. There's also the medium's popularity.... _for a very different reason_. ' _I never expected some delinquents from another school would come to visit_....'

"Send them my regards!! Also, ask Mitsun if she's free later to hang out with Gura and me!!"

"Got it...." I looked behind the curtains to see if all the guests have finally left. Once everything's in the clear, I immediately took of my pilot jacket and walked out of the exhibition, leaving Saku behind to do the maintenance work with others.

............

" _Ditching your booth already?_ "

"Huh!?" I looked around my surroundings, searching for the source of that voice. I was about to leave the library when I got stopped by it.

" _Above you_..."

"Above...?" I looked up and was shocked to find the librarian in his wizard costume, _suspended in mid-air_. "How did you-!?"

"Hiroshi's kind enough to make this mechanism for me...." said Machi. "He made a really good job to make the strings invisible... but they're still obvious enough if you look at it closely...."

 _He's right._ While it's still reflective under the fluorescent lights, it's pretty impressive. "Y-You did fool me earlier, I thought you were floating for real.... also, we're on a break now, Saku's doing some maintenance on his part and I will be visiting Ren and Shino now...."

"I've heard they're attracting a lot of guests over their side...." Machi commented, calmly sitting on the broom as if he won't lose his balance. "Even teacher who was here just now got really excited over it.... _people really like those infamous two_...."

Sumire's fame is related to her mentor, _that's already a given_. But Machi, on the other hand, _is quite a mix bag_. While he's famous for successfully contacting with the dead and being their body host, _as their messenger_ , there's a whole another side of him that he didn't really try and hide it to save his reputation.

To have two troublemakers starting to gain attraction as their names quickly spread around the crowd.... _people will definitely get curious about them_.

"While you're there, _give Makkun this_....." the librarian grabbed a box from his satchel as he tossed it down right at me. I fumbled with it a bit as it landed on my face. "He has been pestering me about it, _just tell him that it's the secret ingredient he requested for his escape room_...."

" _Isn't this makeup remover?_ "

" _ **Silence, mortal**_...." That's an honest threat from his acting. " _ **I will not be mocked my a lowly-being like you**_...."

 _And that's my cue to leave right immediately!_ Not giving Machi enough time to scold me even further, I make haste out of the library and was greeted by a huge crowd of people. gawking at the exhibitions set up by other students.

As I blend in without a problem, I immediately made my way towards the main building of the academy.

* * *

_'Ah, geez... it's like I keep getting shoved every second....'_ We truly underestimate the popularity of this academy's _Cultural Festival_. There's a _'points gathering'_ event that's going on which invites others to individually visit each specific booth to receive a stamp on their card to win some exclusive prizes. Because of that, _almost everyone is going around, in a rush to be the first one to win it._

' _I have a feeling it's Mr. Kageo's idea_....' that show host always wanted to make something more exciting than it needs to be. The academy's too concerned about the students' safety to even want to cause another chaos. ' _So far, Nara didn't report anything suspicious.... as she said reporting from a toilet somewhere...._ '

 _She added that as if it's a fact that we should know about **but** **I digress**_.

Worrying over the subject in mind, I accidentally bumped into someone else, "Ah, sorry-"

 _A familiar looking girl with pink hair_. My eyes widened as I called out to her accidentally, " _Shino...?_ "

"Huh? Sorry, pal' but ya' got the wrong girl...." Now that I actually take a closer look, she's... _different than Sumire_. _Different in a sense of her gal-like fashion style and way of speaking_. "That's strange... do I have, like, a doppelganger or something here?"

"N-No, you just looked like my friend, that's all..." my eyes still heavily focused on her face. _She looks exactly like the investigator_. "S-Sorry for my mistake-!! _What-!?_ "

" _Well, well, well_.... looks like a really sketchy person actually escaped from my radar....." someone pulled me in by my sides, I immediately recognized that voice belonging to _ **Hanabusa Kaoru**_ , _the **Former Ultimate Bodyguar**_ ** _d_**. "I have a feeling you would have the nerve to show your face around here...."

"Huuuh? You are....." the girl narrowed her eyes, studying the stern look of the bodyguard before something clicked in her. "Oh right!! _You're my sister's stalker!!_ Got cha'! I recognized that hideous face from anywhere!!"

"Wha- S _ister?_ " Did I hear that correctly?

"Sorry but I don't have time to acknowledge your insult here...." That's really odd coming from Kaoru because he relishes every single insults from anyone he met. This, however, is the only insult he ever received with a scowl, " _Finish your blogging and get the hell out of here_ , I have no patience in dealing a bitch like you here....."

"Okay, okay!! Geez, just let me visit my usual make-up artist, okay?" the person didn't look too bother by it. "I promised that I would meet her here anyways so don't get your panties so twisted over me...."

" _I would rather much enjoy being with the river people than someone like you, **Ayame**_....." Kaoru snarled. "At least they give me enough pleasure to not make me vomit at every sight of them...."

' _H-He's actually really frightening when mad_.....' I didn't made any effort to get away from his grip. I waited until the girl just walked away from us, ignoring his last comment like it's nothing. It wasn't until I finally feel the bodyguard's grip loosened that I finally asked, " _Who was she...?_ "

"I promised Su-chan that I won't tell anyone but you will bound to know about it anyways......" Kaoru sighed, looks reluctant to tell initially. "That little shit there is _**Endou Ayame**_.... or by her pseudo-name, _**Dolly Esther**_... or by her least known connection, _**she's Su-chan's supposed sister**_....."

" _W-What!?_ " covering my mouth immediately before I accidentally made a scene, I began to ask him more questions. " _I thought she's the only child!?_ "

"Wow, _thank god you actually did your homework_...." the bodyguard replied. "Then again, we don't know for sure..... for all we know, they may have been related but are still far apart..... they have some resemblances here and there but I refused to believe Su-chan's related to that whore!"

" _D-Dolly Esther._..." even with no knowledge about internet bloggers in mind, her name still sticks out as the most influential one out there. Her peppy attitude and bright Harajuku style, she's really different compared to our investigator here. "But that's not right.... _right?_ "

"So far it's negative from what I know _but that bitch insists they're one in the same anyways_...."

" _D-Do you really hate her that much?_ "

"I will have you know, dear Eii-chan, that family means a lot to me!!" Kaoru claimed. " _ **And that bitch doesn't know the meaning of family until she's in a hard place**_...."

"Y-You're still bullying someone our age and you're-!!!" He graduated either a year or two years ago, our age isn't that far apart but he's still the adult figure here!! "You will get in trouble for defaming someone with that much popularity!!"

" _Eii-chan, just how do you think Su-chan managed to bail out Nara?_ "

"..... _ **You're kidding me**_...." Even the authority is under the Hanabusa's influence? Give me a break, what kind of empire are they building here? "Just.... you can just leave her alone for now... _I don't think Shino would even let you off that easily_...."

".... Fine, I will keep the blades to myself _for now_...." Kaoru shoved his hands into his pockets. "Su-chan said she will be avoiding her until that bitch leaves so you might have to leave her alone for a while...."

"Huh...? _Why?_ " Actually, Sumire never talked about her family, _at all_. _Her mentor is a whole different story_.

"Just another habit of hers....." He shrugged but it's clearing something bother both him and the investigator. "Anyways, why a runt like you escaping from their booth? You will get in trouble for leaving it behind...."

I almost forgot, " _On a break_ , I actually wanted to check out the escape room that somehow became popular since this morning...."

"Really? I heard the guests escaped while crying like a baby though? They even said that it's like experiencing hell in its entirety..."

" _ **Are they even allowed to continue if it's going to be like that?**_ "

"Nah, I've seen far more horrible exhibitions by other students in the past, that whole shtick is nothing compared to the _Ultimate Hypnotist_ of the past!!" the bodyguard then pointed towards his watch. " 'm going back to my post now, _it's my turn to kick out some naughty children!_ "

' _Do... they even know who are they looking for....?_ ' Kaoru and his gang has been helping us _disposes_ of the culprits' followers but we're still not sure if they have anything of significance that would helped us to identify them. They're all tight-lipped and he did said his family will.... _handle them carefully_. I'm still worried that they would make a mistake or something.

'... _It's already afternoon, those two might be resting as well... all the more easier to visit them now_....' Once again, I braved through the crowd as much as I can.

* * *

" _Boo_..."

"Ah, Eii-chan...." Renma laughed, even though he didn't turned around or anything to confirm that it was me. "Finally running away from star-struck children? Or here on an errand?"

" _Both_...." I slid my hands from the medium's sides, my attempt to try and spook him failed but I already expected his reaction to be neutral. ".. Here to deliver something from Macchan...."

"Ah, diligent as always....." Renma chuckles as he collected the box. " _I supposed you came here personally because of the rumors going around the academy, right?_ "

Quick to hear things as always, " _And I heard you invited really unique friends over as well_...."

"Pay no mind if you see them still loitering around the academy!!" Renma smiled. "They are close acquaintances of mine but I no longer have any interests to join them again....."

"... _Alright_......" He's still easy-going about it, but maybe it's just his outer appearance _because the messy decorations in the hallway that's been torn down clearly contradicts that_. "You and Shino on break as well? I was about to check out the escape room myself....."

"Sumi unfortunately has to guide a couple in there currently stuck in the middle room....." the medium sighed. "... _Incompetent people really slows down our excitement_....."

I was hoping to try it out myself but I guess it can't be helped.The three of us has to immediately go back to our posts for the remaining of the evening-

__

_**BOOM!** _

__

Suddenly the door besides the escape room booth exploded off, dangled from its original placement as a bunch of people immediately poured out of the room in a panic. Renma and I dropped almost everything we were going on about as we helped out the guests. Almost a second later, Mitsuru and Kiharu came out of the room, " _I-Is everyone okay?!_ "

" _What the hell happened in there!?_ " Renma demanded as he's holding onto a kid that's shaking from fear. " _Was it one of your experiments, Mitsun!?_ "

"We didn't do any of that just now!!" KIharu's the first one to object. "I-It was just her usual beauty treatment and I-I was keeping an eye on everything-"

" _No, that's not it at all_...." Mitsuru continued. "We locked away all those versatile chemicals inside the storage room and somehow... _it exploded from the inside_...."

' _It exploded.... inside of a locked room...? How-_ ' I didn't managed to finish that train of thought as I took a wiff of a strange smell.... _emitting from the escape room booth_. "Renma...!!"

Just as Renma bolted to check on the people still inside of the room, the door opened up widely to reveal Sumire and the other two people who got stuck in there, coughing from some mysterious gas that suddenly appeared and escaped once the door opened. ".... _This isn't part of our attraction_...." the investigator coughed out, covering her mouth. " _Someone sabotaged our booth_...."

 _Mitsuru and Kiharu. Sumire and Renma_.

Their exhibition got sabotaged... by a possible outside force? Or was it an inside job?

_If theirs have already been ruined.... then by now......_

_"Saku and Hiroshi...."_ My eyes widened as I immediately ran fast as I could , taking shortcuts that could bring me close to the other two locations. ' _I need to get to them quickly!!_ '

_Was this whole thing.... part of the **Ultimate Hunt**? Or was it just a **distraction**?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- sips some tea -  
> "Yeah, they're fucked-"


	14. XIII. Festive Act II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scrambling around to gather everyone in one place... another revelation came into light, putting everyone suspicion towards each other.

The closest person here is Hiroshi, his exhibition with Taiga is right outside of the main building and would be surrounded by a lot of people as well. The moment I stepped out of the front entrance, my head suddenly feel light-headed, ' _F-Fuck, was it from earlier....?_ '

 _The strong smell from that escape room_. It's seriously affecting my thoughts and vision right now but I have to power through it. Trying to find my way through the backstage of the superhero show that the marksman and abseiler set-up, they were already at front and center of the stage, approaching their finale as they announced it.

Hiroshi is on one of the suspended beams from above... _and the moment he went down to do his trick_ -

" _What the...?_ " Both of them have microphones equipped for their act, I could hear the abseiler's small shocked voice as he just saw his gear was being tampered with; _the hook connected to the beam that would break his fall was loosened and coming off as he's descending down too quickly_.

' _Shit!_ ' Without even thinking, I took off. Taiga's too stunned to even realized what's really happening now so I need to at least catch him before he hits the ground-!!

The moment the abseiler enters my view, I leaped and caught him, almost landed on his side there as I tried to not fall over, "Got you!!" ' _Just in time-!!_ '

"Eiichi, why are you here...?" the abseiler must have turned off his microphone. "H-Hey, you should get off the stage!! You're not part of our program here!!"

"You should worry about something else instead..!!" I needed to catch my breath first before going on. " _Why did you gear failed at the end back there..?_ "

"I.... don't know?" the abseiler is just as confused as the crowd's right now. They didn't expect an additional actor on the stage and the marksman tried his best to make up the story as much as he can. " _They were working fine earlier so for it to even fail like that_...."

"Hey, umm, _you two_...." Taiga went over to our side. "It's best to take this talk off the stage.... teacher and that counselor lady needs everyone to gather at the assembly area....."

' _An emergency_...' The psychologist and counselor wants all the Ultimate students to gather in one place for now.... _just to make sure if everyone's safe and **present**_. ' _It will be noticeable if we're a student short or-_ '

"Come on, let's go....." the marksman took both of our hands, leading us down the stage as the abseiler is still dazed from what just happened. _For something like to happened to him **again**_. "We should go find the others as well.... "

"Nara would have called-up Hinako and the others by now...." The people that the hacker was in-charge would have been safely evacuated the moment she saw the disaster happening in the main building. Sumire has her side under her control so what's left is- " _Ren..? Macchan....?_ "

The medium and librarian, still in their previous costumes, approached us with a worry look. It was Machi the one who asked first, " _Have you guys seen Sakkun?_ "

" _ **No**_...." a cold dread suddenly filled my stomach. "I-I didn't... d-did he said anything about where he was heading earlier!?"

"He said he was going to see Hira, saying it's something really important...." Machi explained. "But we bumped into Hira earlier... _and he said he didn't send any text to him about it or anything_....."

' _They're picking us off one-by-one_.....' That's the tactic they're using on us. _**They're trying to separate us**_. My mind's all scrambled, I wasn't able to focus on anything until I feel a vibration in my pocket. ' _Nara-!!_ ' I quickly pulled my phone out and saw a message from the hacker.

**Nararan**! > [ " _saku and hira at the back of the main building with two other people!_ " ]

" _Back building_....." they got brought there by two mysterious people, _like last time_. Higura must have went by himself to try and find him. "Ren, Macchan! I know where Sakkun is!! Follow me!!"

They didn't waste any time, they didn't questioned me how do I even know about it. Not when something terrible might happened soon if we don't find them so we left the other two to join the rest of the students, hoping to find the aerobat unharmed.

* * *

The aerobat has always been our main concern here when it comes to personal background. Right when Saku suggested he doesn't want to do his usual thing for the festival, we immediately looked back on his past competitions to see any significance behind his refusal and _we were quite alarmed at what we dug up_.

' _Shino even placed those people involved in that scandal under her and Nara's watch as well....._ ' I bit the inside of my cheek, feeling all nervous about the aerobat's safety. ' _If it's really those people who are behind this then_....'

I immediately stopped at my track, holding back both the medium and librarian once I heard a voice just around the corner. Volunteering to be the one checking it out, I peeked around from the corner to see Saku and Higura with other two strangers.

"You fucking bastards....." Higura hissed, there's bruise forming on his right cheek. "What do you want with us!?"

"This doesn't concern you or your family, Mochizuki...." the taller figured loomed over him, but his eyes are set on the aerobat. "I'm here for this son of a bitch..... _this fucking murderer_....."

"T-They said it was all an accident, I swear!!" Saku went in front, shielding the graphic designer with his whole body. "I-I'm sorry!! I should have checked their planes before they even took off!! I'm really sorry!!"

" _Apologies won't bring our dead family back to life_......" the other figured cracked their knuckles. " _ **But a personal payback will sure satisfied our grief**_...."

'This is bad...!!' " _Hey-!!_ " For some reason, I didn't noticed Renma and Machi completely rushed past me to stop the fight from escalating. " _You two, careful-!!_ "

" _Gentlemen_....." Machi's calm voice got their attention as they whipped around. This gave Saku and Higura enough time to escape. "I apologized for interrupting such an important meeting but this isn't the time for it, _we must evacuate the place immediately_....."

" _Please follow the academy's rules of evacuation_....." Renma's voice, however, is low as he immediately slammed his fist against the cement wall, making the other two people flinched due to its loud crunching noise. He retracted his hand as the dry paint slowly crumpled off of the wall, ".... _ **or else the Gates of Hell will be expecting you shortly**_....."

"Fucking hell, they're really trapping them...." Higura muttered with his hand resting on his bruised cheek. "Come on, let's just leave...."

"W-Would they be alright?" Saku somehow worried about the other two intruders instead.

"..... _Let's just pray that those two will at least leave them alive_....."

_Because that's already the bare minimum we're expecting from a fight involving Renma and Machi._

After we left the bloodbath as quickly as possible, we tried to find the rest of our classmates before Saku and Higura got tackled down by a familiar purple student, three of them fell to the hard dirt ground, "Hira! Sakkun!! You guys are okay!!"

"Ackh!! Mitsun!!!" With his whole complexion completely flushed, the graphic designer struggles to get the cosmetologist off of him. "Fucking let go!! You're embarrassing us!!!"

"We're okay, Mitsun...." Saku just laughed it off as he hugs her back. "Gura got injured though....."

" _What!?_ " Mitsuru immediately lets go both of them but holds down Higura before he could even escaped from her next. " _Let me see that!!_ "

" _K-Knock it off- Ouch!_ "

" _It's all red and sore already!! Just what happened to you guys earlier!? Did you got attacked by those delinquents earlier!?_ "

" _I-I will explain what happened so please let go of Gura, he looked like he's about pass out if you keep on shaking him like that_....."

It's a huge relief really, with all of our classmates slowly gathering around in one place; _everyone's here, safe and sound_. _**But that doesn't mean this accident isn't over yet**_. ' _They're clearly multiple people setting off these random set of events going on and those people earlier....._ ' those people whom Saku and Higura confronted. ' _They have their own personal goal but.... did someone tipped them off perhaps....?_ '

Neither Sumire nor Nara are around with the others, I suspected them to be with the psychologist or the other instructors right now, inspecting each targeted booth for the cause of their faults. I haven't checked my phone at all if they're even looking for me.

" _Eii-chan_..."

" _Ren- **Why is there blood on your sleeves?**_ "

" _It seems I successfully disemboweled a living specimen_..... just kidding, that's Shoma's joke....." he's laughing about it but I'm sure as hell not. "Those pestering flies had fled from this academy and would no longer disturbed our little aerobat..... _though I fear my warning isn't enough for them to make a report for the damages I caused_...."

"We will do something about it...." If Kaoru was actually serious about it then they can cover up Renma's sloppy mistake. Machi later joined the group as their reassurance while the medium said that Sumire is still at her booth.

"Shou-chan has also found something worthy of our time in the forest....." the medium said. "He's under the physician's guidance so I will be going ahead to find out for myself.... _if this is anything like our previous gathering during Sakura-viewing_...."

' _Don't tell me there's another casualty....?_ ' Another pattern to this disappearance cases, _the potential culprit somehow was killed by an instant poison_ , that's being released by a metal bracelet strapped tightly around their wrist.

The counselor and psychologist had sent that bracelet to the Future Foundation to confirm their suspicion, _saying that they might be familiar with it_. Like their own sense of judgement, the three students who are involved in this case were left in the dark by their own accord.

' _If Shino's still in the building then she might be with teacher or Ms. Koyasu_.....' that's the only way why she would stay back in the first place. "Homare, I'm gonna go and look for Shino.... tell others that if they're looking for me....."

"Understood....." the fencer nodded. "Be careful... _this might not be the end of those incidents yet_....."

' _It's far from the end_....' I thought to myself. Making sure the other instructors have all their attention focused on the students, I wormed my way out, following the back route to the main building since the front entrance is heavily guarded and wouldn't allow any entry from the students themselves.

* * *

The escape room exhibition is located on the third floor, right where we first found the _Ultimate Composer_ , _Cosmetologist_ and _Aerobat_ altogether in the same spot last semester. The music room is wide enough to construct an elaborate puzzle maze that Sumire and Renma created together. _It's also easy to get lost in it somehow_ , its exterior has deceived many people so far, thinking it will be a quick maze.

The weird gas emitting from the room has already disappeared when the room is being re-ventilated from the inside and Sumire has already start her investigation, "Eii-chan, how's Saku and Hiroshi...?"

" _Barely rescued them from harm_....." Both of them were close calls, _if I weren't fast enough to get to them_... "But overall, they're safe.... Renma and Machi helped me out a bit....."

"That's good to hear......" the investigator didn't move her head, inspecting under the clothed tables that were put aside. "Come over here..... _have you seen this thing before?_ "

Following her command, I kneel down to check it out myself, a small box-like object with some sort of wired device attached to it. It could be anything but if the source of that weird gas was this thing here... _then it's something very familiar to me_ , " _A timer_...... you didn't noticed anyone entering here or anything...?"

"I may have to check with Nara about the cameras but so far... it has been the guests so it probably slipped past us....." said Sumire. " _But this area is closed off, no one's allowed back here_...."

If it's an area where there's no entry for the outsiders then... " _A student must have told them about it_......"

"..... I need to refer back to the hacker's surveillance....." Sumire let go of the table cloth, letting it cover the evidence left behind by the culprits. "I will have to skim through every footage she received at her end....."

"Do you think it's an inside job this time?" I asked.

".... _Most likely_. What about yours? Did you find anything?"

"Nothing of sort, Saku and Machi' exhibition went-by smoothly with no problems at all. However, Hiroshi's gear was tampered with...." and no one's allowed the backstage of their performance either so it has to be done by another student.

"Shoma and Hinako has no problems as well..... Hibiki, Homare and Amane only went through some technical issues but it's not that drastic....." the investigator listed down the report she received from Nara. ".... It's no use, it's completely at random... there are other students whose exhibition suffered these malfunctions as well......"

Right when I was about to ask another question, the psychologist and counselor entered the room, Ryuko started, "Ms. Hoshino, Mr. Nishida and Ms. Ohori made a proposal to look through the student council logs and the companies' attendance for any off or missing details that could attribute this disastrous event....."

"Since half of the work were done by the companies under the academy, _there might be something else we have missed_....." the psychologist continued. "But enough of those serious stuffs for now!! _Are you two alright!? Do you need a day or two to take a break!?_ "

"W-We're fine, teacher....." he's scooting on us way too closely when he asked us that. "B-But what about the festival...? Almost half of the exhibitions are....."

"The headmaster and committee board will need to reevaluate on how will the students' assessments will proceed from now on....." the counselor answered. "But it seems they will halved their points for the affected the students but Mr. Kageo and other companies promised to open up more opportunities for the affected students after the New Years to gather enough points in time for graduation...."

" _Great to hear that_....." The morbid thought of getting left behind suddenly popped into my mind and I immediately shoved it aside. "I heard Renma, Shoma and Mr. Nishida found something else....?"

"The same thing that happened during the Sakura-viewing......" Ryuko replied. " _Another body, another poison_..... Ms. Ohori will interview each representatives of the companies to see their schedule for earlier today.... we will compare that to Nara's surveillance.... _The last thing we wanted is the death of one of their employees_...."

If the word gone out about the this academy's _Cultural Festival_ came into a sudden halt and the possible missing employee or a loved one being reported to the authority, _it will raised suspicions towards the academy itself_. "The students were all safe still...?"

"All rounded up and secured...." teacher confirmed it. "However, it's getting rather risky having you three prodding around for now.... I suggest you guys take a break for now and let us handle this with the higher-ups. I wouldn't want my dearest students to be included in this messy ordeal...."

"However, Ms. Hoshino, we do required your help on certain matter if we may....." the counselor approached the investigator with heavy steps. "If it's possible, we would like the help of your mentor as well in this case..... _it would be much more quicker to resolved this problem with two heads, correct?_ "

"..... _I don't see anything wrong with that_....." Sumire, however, had a different tone when she said that. "... I will informed my mentor right away before he goes on one of his voyage again...."

" _Please do_....."

Without a single word, they left. Sumire and Ryuko left the room, refusing to look at each other as they went their separate ways. "... Teacher... did... Ms. Koyasu have a personal vendetta against Shino or something....?" I asked the psychologist.

"It's just Ryuko not agreeing to the little investigator's method of investigating things...." he tried to clear things up. "She's more of a passive kind and so she sees Sumi's absurdly large connection with what Ryuko called... ' _ruffians_ ' not ideal for the academy to be associated with...."

"She's.... referring to Kaoru...?" Also, what a shitty way to address them like that. "..... _Hope's Peak Academy_ was the one who recognized these people in the first place....."

" _But that doesn't mean we should agree with them_..." the psychologist corrected. "Alright, enough with the adult-work talk. You're clearly exhausted from today's chaotic schedule..... go join the others and get some rest, everyone's being dismissed early for a more thorough investigation....."

" _You mean Kaoru and others will....?_ "

" _If they have an eye for their followers involving in petty crimes then I'm sure they will not leave any spot undiscovered_....." said Hisao. "Go... before everyone else started to worry about you being the missing one here...."

There's clearly something else bothering the psychologist, either the situation with Ryuko or just the whole event being sabotaged by an outsider. But judging by his tired expression, he really needs some time off of the case so I, _reluctantly_ , followed his advice and left the building, undetected.

* * *

I didn't expect Shoma and Renma being dismissed as well but a suddenly hug from the marine biologist really did took my mind off of the heavy matters from before, "Eii-chan...! This critter has successfully swim through the crowd and capture the bait...!!"

"Sh-Shou-chan.... _what was that again?_ "

" _You're the bait_....." Renma translated that for me. "But thank goodness, everyone's all in one piece. _I'm so glad I wouldn't be praying for my friend's unfortunate passing so soon_....."

" _You said that but you're still smiling_...."

" _Should I not be smiling when everyone's still fortunately alive?_ "

" _No.. it's just that it sounds like you've been preparing for it...._ " But we appreciate him being semi-concern about us. "Have you seen Shino....? I was looking for her earlier...."

"She's with Taiga but I recommend leaving her under the marksman's care...." said the medium. "They seemed to be having a very important discussion that we weren't allowed to interrupt...."

" _I see_....." out of curiosity, I leaned forward towards the medium. " _About your last prediction about Shino.... were you referring to...?_ "

"Oh my, you're worried about a rather different thing here, Eii-chan...." the medium chuckles. "But I would not reveal such trivial thing that easily... _please refrained from asking about it ever again_...."

' _W-Why is he the one being mad about it, he's the one who brought it up in the first place_.....' I gently pushed away from Shoma once his weight is starting to affect my footing a bit. "What about you guys? Anything else....?"

" _The spirits here however didn't foresee any possible loose fated thread for the future_....." Renma exclaimed. " _I was unable to keep in contact with them for a long time as they were deeply disturbed by what has transpired earlier_...."

 _Figuratively and spiritually-speaking_ , Renma and Shoma also hit a dead-end at their part. _Another casualty but with no leads or anything_. Once again, _another dead body for the academy to cover-up_. ' _This almost sounds too familiar with what happened at Hope's Peak Academy years ago..... the Reserve Course was shut down because to that even...._ '

" _Do not stress out_...."

" _That's hard for us not to_...." I sighed. ".... Shino will still continue her investigation but everyone else will need to go home for now....."

"Why's that....?" Shoma tilted his head as he asked. "Why would they keep Sumi-critter behind....?"

"She's unfortunately the key player in this case...." said Renma. "It would be a waste to have a gifted student with an amazing talent and for them not to use their specialty here. _Especially when it's a famed demon who would strike their enemies down_....."

' _It's been a while since I've last heard that nickname of hers_.....' That title is starting to die down now that she's no longer active in outside cases and solely focused on the disappearance case for now. ' _.... She looked upset earlier when they mentioned her mentor being involved.... I wonder why is she really conflicted here-_ '

"Alright.....! Nara has gave this critter a task to reunite Ren and Eii with other schools of fishes right immediately...!" My thoughts were cut short as the marine biologist pushed our back forward. "Nara promised this critter to be invited to another hangout at her residence....!"

" _She talked to you personally?_ " Wait, that means Shoma have seen Nara's real face before!?

"It can't be helped..... we will have to delay our conversation to another date as we are now being dismissed from the academy in the meantime...." 

Enough time for me to cooperate with Nara and going through all of the stuffs we've uncovered from today only. Without Sumire still but since her mentor got involved all of the sudden... _we can't blame her for that_. 

' _.... I'm sure this is just my own annoyance talking but.... aren't they restricting her more than usual....?_ ' We're moving this case in a much more slower pace now that the instructors were involved. ' _Shino has been avoiding the other three more than usual and it's clear to see she's trying to get around all the restrictions placed onto her...._ '

.... If those three weren't being attached to this case in the first place, would we be able to make progress much quicker...? _Was it wrong for me to put our trust into those three...?_

 _'... No....I wouldn't say it like that....'_ Restrictions or not, they still needed our help here. So for now... _we just have to endure it as much as we could_. 

_No matter what... this is why we came to the Ultimate Academy for._

_No matter what...... this is part of our specialized area, all three of us._

_**No matter what**...._

_........._

~~**_I'm a horrible lair..._ ** ~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -slams hands down-  
> It's Time™


	15. XIV. Noel' Party Act I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A celebration for Christmas' Eve starts with Sumire, Eiichi, Shoma and Renma went off to buy present for their classmates at the VIP Christmas Party hosted by, none other, the Mochizuki family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, here we go again.
> 
> I also post updates on [twitter](https://twitter.com/dr_mdst)! So give a follow if you want some heads-up or updates on the next chapter or project!!

_Spring. Summer. Autumn._

We have covered all the seasonal festivals in a blink of an eye and so now, the academy decided to reward their students for all their hardwork and the troubles they've experienced from _the Cultural Festival_.

It's not much of a reward though, _since it's already a pre-determined holiday for all of us_.

' _Finally we're on a break after all of that_.....' I sighed, white smoke slowly materialized at the same exact moment. ' _In the end all of us got excused from the academy right before Christmas' Eve for our final grade..... it's still a low mark but it's better than being given none at all....._ '

"Eii-chan, please don't look so gloomy on this _Holy Day_..... your negative presence will surely made a huge impact on our festive spirits....."

" _You're really bringing your spiritual talk into this event as well, huh?_ "

For the first time in years, I decided to spend the Christmas' Eve with someone, _my classmates_. It's been a while since I've last celebrated it with other people... or if I actually did at all, _I don't really remember_.

But it's not really the time for me to be pessimistic about it since I promised Renma, Shoma and Sumire to accompany them with their shopping spree. Higura invited everyone to their family's _VIP_ _Noel' Party_ and apparently, _it's the best of the best parties out there_ (said by Mitsuru and Saku).

The class also have this _Secret Santa Gift Exchange_ thing that will occurred at the party so Sumire and Shoma here are really rushing to buy their supposed recipients' presents.

"Fuu... forgive my meddling presence as well...." Compared to Shoma and Sumire' exciting faces, _Renma doesn't look too well_. " _Winter Solstice_ is my family's feared enemy, our bodies are not well-adjusted to its harsh cold winds. _I fear I won't make it past this year's cold solstice as well_...."

"Shou-chan made it past summer so I'm confident that you can survive through it as well...." I commented on the marine biologist's weakness towards heat before during _Tanabata_. "But if it's like that then why are you here...? You've already bought your gifts...."

"I can't return to my hometown at this time of the year...." Renma confessed. "While their path is blocked due to an avalanche, they will also hunt down any trespassers who would dare step foot into their domain and interrupt their old practices..."

"... _What practice?_ "

" _It's a secret_....." he tried to be playful about it but his sneeze made it harder to take it as a joke. ".... _Forgive my unhygienic display_. I also have a reason for not wanting to take shelter since I'm staying with Shoma for the meantime...."

"And that is?"

" _ **I don't want to**_...." He answered that quickly. "The moment I stepped onto that household, I was greeted by an _insanely, aggressive spiritual energy with no explanations at all_.... I could have collapsed on the spot if it weren't for his guardians...."

The medium really likes to judged this spiritual connection that we have, surrounding us or attached to one of our personal belongings. He either used that to scare us, give us a warning or even, _since he can sense them easily,_ passed a message to us from the afterlife. _It can literally be all of them at once_.

"But Shoma's..... _parents_ are nice....?" I have only visited once and their hospitality is really excessive but not to the point of scaring you away or anything. "I'm sure their kindness distracted you from those suffocating spirits...."

"I have been accused of such ridiculous things and I don't want to hear a single word from them ever again....." It's Renma's turn to sigh now. "I now understand the biologist's feelings of their far-reached accusations. _I no longer want to properly cleanse the house as I shall let it rot their mind_...."

"..... _Okay_...." While I am curious about the things the medium was accused of, _he looks really irritated right now and I value my face_. "However, you're still staying with them?"

"The spirits urged me to stay for they knew the guardians' didn't mean it seriously....." said Renma. " _A simple joke between families_ , or so Shoma's guardians said. _I'm even more curious to study them that would lead the biologist to have a personal bell system inside his own room for his guardians to use_...."

"Ah, that's just Shoma not wanting them to barged into his room....." I replied from what I know about it from his parents. "He has a lot of.... _critters_ in his room that he talked to frequently so interrupting that moment would ruined his mood....."

"Hahaha... _that really sounds like him_....."

"Yeah...." I smiled slightly. Just as our conversation came to an end, the other two just returned from their shopping spree. " _Got the things you needed?_ "

"Got mine a few shops ago but Shoma insisted in continuing the spree to buy some gifts for his _critter_ friends at home....." Sumire tugged down her red scarf. "And we also got distracted by something else...."

" _This_....!" Shoma seemed to be holding some sort of small plastic packet in his hand that has a label saying _'Crystals Terrain Formation'_. "This shiny object brought this critter a lot of memories....! Back when the child of the star and this critter used to play a lot.....!"

"I'm surprised you remembered that from..... _around_ _seven years ago?_ " the investigator tried to recalled back. "Back when I was still an amateur that mentor has to be bring me around to his workplace as a lesson...."

 _'A lesson...? Shoma's mother is a lawyer if I do recalled....'_ They were pretty chatty during my last visit at their place. ' _Something serious happened between the two of them a long time ago?_ '

"It's quite alarming that he would bring you around dangerous places...." Renma commented. "To think a father should have taken notes of their child's safety first instead of heading towards danger...."

" _I never see him as a father and neither does my mentor can even see himself as an parental figure_...." Sumire replied. "It's a _superficial_ relationship, you can say. After all, he's no different than a parasitic bird that replaced other birds' egg with its own as a substitute...."

"Huh....? This critter don't get it....?" Shoma's the only bewildered here while Renma and I tried to keep it together, _that sentence really came out of nowhere_. "Are the two stars that far apart....?"

"If you compared mentor and I to the _Dog Stars_ then it would be much more clearer-"

" _ **Alrighty then, let get a move on!!**_ " before this can get even more revealing and awkward, Renma and I pushed them ahead down the road to our next stop. "It's too cold for this spicy conversation so let's just stop by the parlor shop to continue, _okay?_ "

"Indeed!" Renma continued. "After all, _Mochizuki's Noel Party_ is tonight and we wouldn't want to get all tired and sickly from the cold now, are we?"

"Said someone who's weak against it- _Hey! The pavement's slippery here!!"_

With Renma guiding them to the fruit parlor shop that Nara introduced Sumire and I to, I looked around for anything, anyone who could have been following us this entire time. ' _I swear I had a feeling of being watched here.... there's no way it's those two kids again, with what happened last time_....'

I threw one final glance around the place before catching up with others, hoping my gut's right and that they've disappeared for good this time.

* * *

_Sour. Slightly bitter. And too overwhelmingly sweet_.

' _The fruit parfaits they ordered showed off their attitude really well_....'

_Lemon and cherries cheesecake parfait for **Renma** , tropical orange and raspberries parfait for **Shoma** and triple chocolate pudding parfait for **Sumire**._

' _If Nara's here, it would be a complete symphony of_ _flavors_....' I took a bite of my melon parfait. ' _But she's busy right now... she's still taking hacking works from people online right now but won't say what it is exactly_....'

Nara's online persona is still unknown to us, knowing matter how hard we looked deep into her roots, ' _She might just be that good in covering her tracks. But then again... Sumire knew it was her the last time she hacked into her workplace's system so that's off the list_...'

We were kind of left in the dark about what Nara do for a living since she think it's for the best that we don't know about it at all, _or even get involved in it_.

Before I get too deep into my thoughts, I've noticed that the investigator has been look at her phone with an intense expression, "What's wrong, Shino?"

".... Right before we had our _Cultural Festival_...." she answered. " _A student was expelled from Hope's Peak Academy for failing their practical exam_...."

"We never heard of that news before....?" Both Shoma and Renma said.

Then, _it came from the Hope's Peak' SNS_. There's no way the current headmaster would even want to let those students' expulsion come into light in any shape or form, "Even so... they're at least lenient about it thanks to the current headmaster.... if it was by the previous ones, _the test would have been unforgiving as hell_..."

" _I've heard_....." Sumire replied. "Right before the late _Headmaster Kirgiri and current Headmaster Naegi_ took the position, the academy was more strict, even more so when under the original founder's guidance. Expelled students were common back then, _they were taking the test really lightly after all_..."

"With sweet promises of a successful future and fortune...." Renma continued. "It's almost a child's play to put all your belief in it with no effort at all. Not only that, broadcasting a child's talent to the whole world would definitely make anyone scrambling around to claim that special talent as their own...."

I don't know much about the past of Hope's Peak Academy beyond _their tragic events_. I've just heard that they're not that loose in rules and practical exams just as the current days ones. Sumire and Renma must have knew this due to their family members being graduates there, "What exactly happened to the expelled students?"

"Stories varied a lot...." the investigator decided to answer. "Some completely gave up their talents since they failed, some still cling onto their titles... _and some were given second chances but at a different place_...."

" _Yumeino Ultimate Academy_.... right?" Despite my lack of knowledge of the first Ultimate prestigious school here, the history behind the sister school's creation has become common knowledge for both Ultimate students and outsiders at this point.

"This critter heard.... this sister school is a dumping ground for ' _defectives_ '....?" Shoma joined in the conversation. "This critter has absorbed this information from.... _his older generation_......"

"Indeed, although, _let me clarify that statement once more_...." the medium explained. "Our academy was previously known to be a _second haven_ for the expelled students to succeed in their own fields once more but unfortunately, it was seen as a mockery instead. Purposefully making the requirements lower and tests being easy enough to pass, it's considered to be an embarrassment to be accepted there...."

" _Once you've got recruited by the big ones, dignity comes first_....." the investigator continued. "Which is why they were called _dumping grounds for former Ultimate students before. Even students from Hope's Peak saw the Yumeino's students as just cheap, second-grade Ultimates essentially...."_

" _Sumi_...."

"Oops, sorry, my mistake....." Renma caught onto her rude remark about past Yumeino's students. " _I forgot I'm still a student there_...."

"How the hell did you ended up saying that without even thinking?" I sighed but truth be told, I almost forgot Sumire and I were originally _Hope's Peak students_. Our time at the _Yumeino Ultimate Academy_ has been nothing but pleasant that we completely forgot about its predecessor. "So it wasn't until _The Tragedy_ that the academy decided to reformed to be its own identity, right?"

"Bingo..." Sumire pointed at me while sipping her coffee. "It's better that way actually. Now, people recognized the academy by its signature ' _Ultimate Cultural Festival'_ and other celebrations. They're still taking the same system from Hope's Peak but the current headmaster and Mr. Kageo is slowly changing things from the inside...."

"It's funny that Mr. Kageo is not an Ultimate yet he's the biggest influential figure out there....." That detail still struck me as awe-inspiring in my head.

"His reach is quite impressive...." Renma commented. "Perhaps that's why he's seen as a bigger threat for Hope's Peak, _more specifically their committee_...."

Since _Yumeino Ultimate Academy For Elites_ has become its own thing with a completely new system, _it became a competition instead_ , even though the sister school have no intentions to go against _Hope's Peak_.

Then again, it's really late to not call it that when the _Togami family_ 's rivals, _Mochizuki_ and _Takara families_ has finally merged their ideals under _Yumeino_ 's _business conglomerate_.

" _He fell asleep_....." Renma took off his jacket as he placed it on top of Shoma's sleeping figure. After finishing his food, the marine biologist knocked out immediately, feeling sated. " _Our talk must have bore him_....."

"Better get enough sleep for tonight's party...." I stretched around. "After all, Amane invited a band to play his music and _Hira decided to take tallies on who will cry first_....."

" _Nao and Mitsuru_...." the medium, investigator and I said in unison.

"Though... it's a curious thing that Hira wanted to invite his friends over...." Sumire cheekily grinned. "Could it be due to him...... _softening up towards us?_ "

" _No way, don't say stuffs like that!_ " I tried to stifle back a laughter at her joke but failed. " _There's no way he would do something like that, he's the little prince, you know!_ "

" _It seems we're blessed with his noble presence_...." Renma couldn't resist the teasing moment here as he joined in. " _Ah, such a wonderful person, let us bathe in all his glory_ -"

" _ **Hey**_..."

" _Ah_...." _This is bad._

"You guys are having way too much fun talking there without even noticing...." the noble himself, Higura sighed as he glared at us. " _ **Be glad we're in public**_ , I would have beat your asses instead...."

"How long have you have been sitting next to us....?" He's literally few metres away from our table, how did no one saw him at all?

" _He was already here before Shoma fell asleep_...." Sumire answered.

" _So you're stirring the pot on purpose?_ " That makes sense now.

"He's been quiet this entire time and I thought a little tease would finally make him approached us like a friend should...." the investigator chuckles. "So what brings you here, Hira? I thought sweets are not your forte?"

"I'm ordering some for the party since Nara introduced this place to everyone, _which became their favorite place to visit_....." Higura exclaimed. "Also, I'm taking Rui and Yoichi for shopping a bit...."

"Are they okay?"

"Still scared of going out alone but they're still doing well than before......" the designer went silent for a moment there. "Didn't managed to thank you enough for that, _so thank you for helping them out, Eiichi_...."

"You're welcome, Hira....." It didn't occurred to me that he didn't thanked me at all last time but it's still really nice for him to show his appreciation towards it. "So, what's the agenda of the party tonight? Are we going to have some special announcement from _the future CEO of illuXion?_ "

"W-Well....!!" Higura's face turned red by his future title. "T-There's no way in hell I would allow any business talks or even festival talks at the party!! After all, it's supposed to be a break from all the shit we have to work our asses through!!"

"You're getting all chummy with us, how adorable...." Renma laughed as he sees the designer's brow twitched in annoyance. "We appreciate the gesture, so we should be thanking you instead, Hira..."

" _I guess_...." Higura mumbled. "Was planning to do something for _New Years'_ as well but everyone probably have plans for that too...."

"Eiichi and I were planning to visit my old place for a change of pace....." Sumire confirmed it for him. "We decided stay there for a five days to celebrate...."

"What about Nara? Thought you guys will stick together no matter what?"

" _ **I don't want her to scare the children there**_....." The hacker also have low tolerance for pestering children so Sumire doesn't want her to blow a fuse around them. Higura checked back the time on his phone as he sighed once more.

"Better get going.... on a fucking tight schedule after all...." he said. "I will be taking my stuffs and leave now. Those other two might have finished shopping by now..."

"You... _let them wandered around?_ "

"As ridiculous as it sounds, Hina let me hired her brother to be their bodyguard..... that roach is surprisingly resourceful when handling difficult people...." _I now wonder if Higura even know about the Hanabusa family's background_. "Never thought I would see the day Rui learning to be more responsible when handling his family's fortune...."

"Kaoru taught him that?"

"He's in charge of his own family's finance so no big surprises there...." Sumire cleared it up. "He's very frugal about it since he was young..... but it's weird that Hinako allowed him be near others like that...."

" ** _With an exception._** She told me that if he ever broke our family rule or even accidentally hurt them, _we're free to feed him to the wild animals_...." Higura replied, clearly not into that idea. "I get she hates her brother but that threat is a whole another level...."

" _Not really_....." So he really doesn't know it. "Kaoru has his own problems but he can be kinder if he wanted to...... _even though he's nothing but a slithering snake in field of flowers_...."

"Is he a good person or not here?"

" _Depends on how you want to see him, really_....."

"Then I will trust his kinder side _**for now**_......" Higura decided. "Anyways, I will be going now. And if you guys are late for tonight's party, _then I won't hesitate to lock you outside of the building_...."

With that single threat, he took his leave with his orders given by the fruit parlor's worker. The remaining four of us chatted for a bit before Renma also left while carrying the sleeping Shoma on his back. _'His parents tends to worry a lot whenever he's out and about. He's a sea creature trying to walk on land, you see...'_ he reasoned with us.

It was just the two of us left, Sumire and I talked about other miscellaneous things before a certain commercial on the television caught my eyes. " _ **Genesis**_.... I've been hearing about that company for the past few years now....."

 _ **The Genesis**_. A travelling agency and holder for all the resorts available for leisuring around. They're also under the _Yumeino Ultimate Academy,_ hence them taking their name as the commercial talked about their upcoming five-star hotel that will have its grand-reopening by the same date we will be graduated.

 _We're the 50th Class that will be graduating soon after all,_ of course they would want to make it grand.

"...... They have rather interesting history......" Sumire's eyes glued onto the screen. " _I wonder how much of those resources were from the academy_...."

'.... _She's asking me to look deep into them_.....' I have take note of that and begin my hunt after the party

"I will be going now....." Sumire sat up immediately. "I already paid for everyone's desserts here... it's getting late after all and I need to reserve more energy to bully Taiga and Mitsuru at the party later!"

Being playful after that serious talk just now, her priorities are everywhere, ".... Don't go too far, I still haven't had my fair share of revenge for tricking me into stealing things from the student council!"

" _What did you steal?_ "

" _ **Nothing**_ "

" _It's the assessment papers, right?_ "

" _Why do you even ask about it if you know it already!?_ "

" _Testing your honesty_...."

Despite our light-hearted talk, we still have another thing we should be focusing on by the sidelines. If this _**Genesis**_ can really be our other stepping stones to find the true culprit in this disappearance case then..... _**we will not let this chance slipped-by**_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Dog Stars = Sirius, also known as Canis Majoris, is a binary star system (Sirius A being the brightest than Sirius B the white dwarf). An interesting fact; Sirius B is found within the Summer Triangle of Altair, Deneb and Vega (an indirect callback to the Milky Way chapters).
> 
> -
> 
> Everyone: -completely normal conversation-  
> Sumire & Renma: Anyways, let's talk about the past and how the academy we're attending at were treated like garbage back then
> 
> -
> 
> One day, I will summarize everything about Yumeino Ultimate Academy and their history but not right now-  
> Tying in Hope's Peak Academy with their history is kind of tricky though you bet your ass the Steering Committee has something to do with them.


	16. XV. Noel' Party Act II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Noel' Party started and ended on a silent night.

' _I shouldn't be surprised that we're celebrating at Mr. Kageo's business place yet I still am_.....'

The _illuXion's_ grey-bluish building sticks out like a sore thumb in the city, it's hard to missed it even when you're lost or even strayed away from the main road.

As expected, the party was held at the top floor, a penthouse to be precise. It's also where Higura and two other people lived-

"You seemed out of it already......" another person joined me at the balcony with a guest. "It's not even midnight and you're already retreating?"

" _How weak, Eii-chan_..." the other guest chuckles. "Your classmates are having a blast in there and you're escaping the fun......"

" _If you call that fun_...." I pointed at the messy decorations all over the floor with Amane threatening Hiroshi as Machi hold him back, Mitsuru clinging around Homare's waist wailing like a baby and Renma who's just looming over Taiga, _who looks really terrified right now_ ,"... _then yes, I am escaping_....."

"What a wild gift exchange!!" Kaoru laughed, he decided to join in the party since the two supposed people he's guarding are also present here. "Haven't seen a party this wild since our last reunion!! _Lots of tears and blood were shed!!_ "

" _And you still kept them as your friends_ , somehow...." Sumire commented, eyeing on her drink. "By the way, thanks for the gift, Eii-chan... should have known you would have my name...."

"Yeah, I cheated a bit and find your name in the pile just from the back of the paper. At least yours' easy to find....."

 _It's also her birthday today so_... I decided to take this chance as a repayment for giving me a present on my birthday as well.

"Hmph, that's very cheeky of you to do but I don't mind getting free presents from someone who knows me well! I expected a big fight here and I got just that. But I didn't expect Ru-chan and Hina-chan actually talking to each other, _limbs attached and all_...." said Sumire.

"Like I've said before, _it's a simple siblings' quarrel!!_ " said Kaoru with a wide smile. "Hina may have shunned me for being a nuisance but she's not all heartless and stuffs like that!! That's what siblings are all about; _fighting till we're not fighting at all!!_ "

" _Sounds really exhausting_....." Sumire didn't hesitate a bit. "What about your family? I'm pretty sure they're celebrating Christmas just like us right now...?"

"Today's a rowdy day at their district so Hina and I don't bother dropping-by...." he dismisses his family's matters instantly. "We want a single day where we wouldn't be greeted with blood in front of our doorsteps!!"

" _Are you a yakuza-in-hiding or not?_ "

"I'm just an adult troublemaker!! It doesn't matter what rules bind me here; as long as I can command it, there's no reason to hold myself back!!"

Hanabusa Kaoru's long knowledge about surveillance and other exploitation methods have been really useful for me. The reason why he even accept the job offer by the Mochizuki family was to investigate the records and lists of affiliates that's connected to Mr. Kageo's business. An offer or not, _he's doing this on behalf of the academy still_.

 _ **The Genesis is already on our radar due to some inconsistencies in their track records**_ , we're still searching through others if there's anything left.

"But what are the chances I will meet my old instructor here, Mr. Mafuyu!!" Kaoru cackled. "The look on his face as all his color immediately drained out!!"

" _ **He did said you were his worst nightmare before**_....." We heard it from many, many stories our teacher told us about his time here _and not all of them were pleasant_. "Also, he's our teacher as well and has been taking care of us, of course we would invite him....."

"Hngh, I don't really understand what you guys see in such a troublesome scale like him but I will trust your taste in people!!" Kaoru replied. "He always get into fights with his students since his morals is out of this world so I'm glad he's cooperating a bit too well with you guys!!"

He wasn't always like that, Hisao and Sumire did have a discussion during the first semester and at first, _he seemed to be reluctant get involved to help our case. 'He even said he's been in-contact with them.... I can't get that info out of him because he keeps avoiding it and I have no other ways to approached him that doesn't involved anything physical. Shino said she will do it in her own way but she went silent about it....'_

"Alright enough about the past!!" the bodyguard is slowly going over the railing, too dangerously close to edge. "It's going to be the New Years' soon!! New year, new shit to handle like always!!"

"What are you- _Hey!?_ " Without a warning, Kaoru sat on the railing and immediately leaned backwards, facing the windy night atmosphere of the city-scape, dangling his legs over the railings. "You idiot!! You will fall-!?"

" _Woohoooo! I'm gonna get fucked by a whole another year again!!_ "

"D-Don't tell me he's drunk...? There's not even a single alcoholic drinks in there!!" I desperately clutched onto legs and waist, hoping that my strength is enough to keep him in place.

"Not at the party but don't forget, he's technically a worker here...." Sumire just watched the whole happening with an empty cup in her hand. "He must have had one before seeing us here..... _there's a lounge next to a bar below this floor after all_...."

"C-Can you at least help me out here!?"

" _No way, I don't want to be associated with you two here_..... there's people down there who would see us..."

"Hang on-!! I got you!!" I grabbed him by his tie as he chocked. Throwing his safety completely out of the windows, I pulled it back as his face meets the hard concrete floor of the balcony. "Honestly...!! Be more careful, you idiot!!"

" _Hahahaha... I would have enjoyed that roughhousing much more if I wasn't in pain...._ "

"I thought you're a masochist?" Sumire asked.

" _I have limits, Su-chan_...." Kaoru laughed once again. His hand traveled down his trousers' pocket as he felt his phone vibrating. His crazed smile was still on his face until he read something on his phone and immediately sat up, " _ **What the hell**_....?"

" _Kaoru, what's wrong?_ " The nickname dropped, Sumire asked again but this time with urgency.

"It's... _Nara_...." Kaoru slowly answered. "Hey... you guys said she's going to be late, right...?"

"T-That's what we heard from her...." she told us herself with her signature style of using a lot of emoticons in her text. "What happened? _Did she get into trouble again?_ "

"I got a message from her but...." he showed us the message. " _ **What the hell does this mean?**_ "

Sumire and I stepped a bit closer to read that one single message sent to the Former Ultimate Bodyguard, _a rather dubious message_.

**Nararan**! > [ " _**16 Students Left** _" ]

"What the hell-" Suddenly, it's my turn. I immediately took my phone out to see who messaged me, "N-Nara....?"

 _It's the same message that Kaoru showed us_.

"The fuck's going on....?" Sumire just received hers. "...... _Eiichi, Kaoru, **we're heading over to her place now**_....."

" _Understood_...." Kaoru immediately get off the floor as he tidied himself up. "I will prepare the vehicle, just give me the route to her house!!"

"Tell teacher to call other instructors, we will meet them soon enough...." Sumire furiously demanded. "I will have to make a call..... _**for an emergency**_...."

Our loud voices of shock and concern accidentally attract the everyone else's attention from inside the building. Homare and Machi even asked us if everything's fine but.....

I don't have an answer for that.... _because I don't really know if everything's really fine right now_.

* * *

"I've just changed my contact, I have used false ones a lot in the past but _for Nara to actually track my current contact down just for that fucked-up message_...." Kaoru gritted his teeth but his eyes are still on the road ahead. "What about the others?"

"Teacher said he will keep an eye on everyone at the building...." I answered. "They will wait until they hear from us, other instructors will be meeting with us at the other location....."

"..... _Su_ , is it necessary to call the ambulance here...." Kaoru asked, using his rear mirror to take a glance at the investigator. ".... What if it's just a false alarm?"

"No.... _it's not going to be that at all_....." Sumire pressed her lips into a thin line. "If we're following the culprit's pattern here.... _then it's something we shouldn't keep from others_....."

If the culprits really went after Nara like the other past victims, then we have no choice but to reveal her situation here. Our previous victims have no one to step forward to claim them, sitting around at the mortuary somewhere.

But Nara is too well-acquainted with everyone else; _**they're going to ask about her if she even went missing for a single day without any trace**_.

" _ **I'm going to bite down whoever this son of a bitch think this is funny at all**_...." Kaoru gritted his teeth as he slammed the brakes down. "We're here!!"

Not waiting to waste any precious seconds, Sumire and I immediately jumped out of the car, using the stairs to go to the third floor condominium. The investigator took the lead as she knew where the hacker's room is as she stopped in front of the unit, " _Here it is...!_ "

Sumire took what looks like long needles from her pocket, inserted it in the keyhole and with a few clicks, the door's opened. _It's still locked from the inside_.

"Wait...." she stopped me from going. "..... I will go on ahead.... _I will let you know I find something else_......"

"..... _Alright_..." I hesitated.

I stepped aside as the investigator went in first, fear slowly collecting in my bowels. Tapping furiously onto the door stills, I tried to distract myself from going in myself or any other _reckless decisions_ , ' _Nara would have done something like that.....something reckless....._ '

 _What did she do?_ Sumire made sure it's almost impossible to track her back so why is it happening now? Now that we're getting closer-

Heavy footsteps approached the slightly closed front door as it was swung open forcefully, Sumire's all disheveled and her eye are wide open, " _ **Ambulance**_..... _is the ambulance here yet?_ "

"I...." Right at the exact moment, Kaoru just arrived to tell us that they've just arrived, answering the investigator's sudden question for me. "What happened...? _Did something happened to Nara!?_ "

She staggered a bit, leaning against the door to support herself, still reeling from shock, _from whatever she just witnessed in there_ , "...... At the hospital... _we can still save her_.... _tell them to hurry up or else_...."

 _Save her? Oh no_.

" _Kaoru, get them here!! **NOW**!!_" I yelled at the bodyguard who immediately went ahead. Sumire's complexion is pale, I held onto her, trying to keep her figure steady as we walked away from room, "Shino, _are you okay!?_ "

" _What's happening_....." Casting down, she keeps on saying the same thing over and over again. "Why did this happened... _**why did she do that**_..?"

"What is......" the door of the front entrance creaked, bringing my attention towards it. The door opened wide, revealing the inside of the really filthy room with garbage littered on the floor and dining table. A single computer was all wired up and on it, a bright screen that said....

[ **INFILTRATION ' _THE GENESIS_ ' SYSTEM COMPLETE!** ]

My whole body tensed.

 _She_.....

_**She knew** _

.......

_And_

_**She went ahead did it by herself** _

_But_

_**She got caught in the end** _

__

.....

............

.....

* * *

The _Former Ultimate Bodyguard_ have to posed as our guardian for now with the doctors and other staff members, _filling their inquiries with lies_. Even if they have to make proper investigation because of this incident, _the Hanabusa clan has it all under their control_.

' _.....It doesn't matter.... Nara's life is still in fucking danger here......_ ' It doesn't matter if the doctors said she's in comatose state, it doesn't matter if she still have that slight chances of waking up soon, _we still let her got injured without even knowing_.

"I knew we should have forced her to come with us...." I bit my lower lip so hard until it bleed. " _I knew we should have went straight to her place before the party_....."

_I'm frustrated, so, so **frustrated**_. _We should have been there for her._

I looked to my side to see the investigator impatiently tapping her foot, biting on her thumb with a strained expression, ' _.... Shino's more stressed about this than me..... of course, why shouldn't she... we've almost lost an important friend here-_ '

"Doctors agreed to our demands of allowing two caretakers looking after her twenty-four hours a day....." Kaoru walked over to us to deliver some news. "I will have my men to volunteer, they will turned anyone away except for her classmates. _I will make sure they took note of them_....."

".... _Thank you, Ru_...." Sumire's voice can barely be heard. "... _We couldn't have done it without you_....."

" _Thanks, Kaoru-senpai_...." I said my gratitude next. "..... _We wouldn't have gotten there faster if you weren't around_...."

".. Hey, _you guys need to rest for now_...." the bodyguard placed both his hands on top of our heads, slowly caressing as he spoke in a much more softer voice. "... I know it's hard for you guys to even accept that it happened again... but stay strong, okay? _It's what Nara wants you guys to do, she doesn't want to see you guys being sad over it_...."

" _Yes_...." I was the only one who replied back, Sumire balled up her fists, resting on her lap as she heard it.

We heard something from the distance, footsteps that's getting closer and heading our way, '... _Here already_....'

Sumire and I stood up, the first one to arrived was Mafuyu Hisao, our teacher, still wearing his formal suit from the party earlier. Judging by time-frame from when we were at Nara's place, telling teacher about the situation currently and the time we arrived here at the hospital, all of them would have arrived here directly from Higura's place.

" _Teacher_ -" Sumire started but was cut off, Hisao immediately pulled us into a tight hug without a warning.

" _Thank goodness, you two are okay....!_ " He released us for a moment as he furiously checked our faces, as if he's trying to spot any bruises or cuts left. "Is everything alright!? _Are you guys hurt!?_ "

"N-No...." My voice wavered a bit, teacher's hand is resting on my right cheek. _I almost leaned into it_. "But... _Nara is_....."

"I know....." Hisao slightly nodded. " _I know_.... Kaoru told me all about it..... the others will be arriving soon along with the other instructors.... but... Ms. Koyasu has the other two investigated Nara's place first... Eiichi... _did you?_ "

I showed him off the jammer device hiding inside, my jacket, clearly turned on and disabling all the security cameras in the area we're in right now.

"..... _ **They got everything**_....." the psychologist started. "They stole all the information that we've been collecting... about them.... about the school system.... _**about the students as well**_...."

"Not only that....." Sumire added. ".... Whatever Nara was trying to find... _**it's all gone**_... _completely wiped from her computer_......"

_Something that lead the culprits to her. Something so important to them that they have to removed her out of the picture temporarily._

".... Ms. Koyasu issued extra security measures on our side...." said Hisao. "It... might not be the best thing but we have no other choices, _I'm sorry_...."

Right when I was about to ask, both phones that Sumire and I brought along rang simultaneously. It might be a coincidence that it's acting up after teacher said about something important but we answered it anyways, _to confirmed our suspicion_.

" _Eiichi_...."

 _Spymaster. My suspicion is_ _correct_.

" _Your task has been slightly compromised by a misstep or what I would described as rather an idiotic move from your side there_....." the spymaster said in a disgruntled voice. "... _I will not pull you out from there but do continue on your own risk. **Remember your own rule**_...."

"... _**Never leave any evidences behind**_....." My eyes slowly wandered over to everyone else, all with disturbed faces as I continued the call. ".... _ **not even yourself**_...."

" _Noted_....." the spymaster sound rather satisfied by it. " _I will oversee the operation from the outside_. _Do make use of your own partner, she's more useful than you think_. _**You can make a scapegoat out of her there**_.... _**Out**_."

I ended the call, I didn't get to hear the last part, not when he said something as absurd as that afterwards, ' _I'm.... not letting anyone taking the blame here.... this is on all of us_.... _there's no use in pointing fingers here_...'

" _Understood, mentor_...." Sumire just ended hers a bit later."....I need to leave now. _There's an emergency at the workplace_....."

"What now...?" Kaoru gritted his teeth. "Does that bastard even realized how sensitive this situation is right now-"

" _ **This is serious, Kaoru**_....." the investigator raised her voice. ".... But... I'm not allowed to talk about it freely.... I have to go now...."

"Why on earth would he want you to leave right now....?" Is her mentor that inconsiderate? "N-Not when someone's in critical condition...."

" _That's the thing, Eiichi_......" Sumire looked down. "... _Someone got injured while working on a case_.... and it's not something my mentor wanted to ignore so willingly..... _**it's unforgivable**_...."

Her phone suddenly vibrates once more and she answered it right immediately, confirming it's her mentor again as she took the conversation out of our earshot. _She's excusing herself_.

"..... _This is why I hate that fucking old man of hers_....." Kaoru sneered. "Putting restrictions on your own kid.... molding them into something ideal.... _hell, it's no different than controlling them like a ventriloquist_...."

 _Into something ideal. Something like them_.

 _Sumire's afraid of disappointing her mentor_. She's afraid of making mistakes. She went out of her way forming all these connections just to ensure everything's under control, _that could have put herself into danger_.

However, caring for your own safety doesn't matter as long as everything went on smoothly. As long as the clients happy, you're still safe, _when you're really not_. Hoshino Iwao left a big impact on everyone, _and Sumire doesn't want to ruin that by being too careless_.

He's still someone she really admires and really grateful of for taking her in as his student.... but she also resents him for putting all those things on her plate, something she never asked for yet cannot refused. _She must have realized it too late..._

' _.... I... don't know what to do...._ ' 

Not longer after, everyone else have arrived, demanding answers about Nara's condition, Sumire's disappearance, just... _they just wanted answers here_.

' _.... If the counselor is doing the same thing as that Hoshino Iwao, putting restrictions on all of us.... how long will this even last...? We wanted this to end as soon as possible but... **how it will even end?**_ '

......

_Hey, Shino.... how exactly do you want this to end? Will.... we really be alright by the end of it?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eiichi: Wow, I finally figured out the issue that's been bothering my friends lately and it's fuCKING TOO LATE-
> 
> -
> 
> Sumi's like the only chara here having unfortunate things happened on her birthday- (I posted CH 4 victim reveal chapter during her birthday and in this chapter, Nara got injured on the same date as well)  
> I'm really sorry, Sumire wwww


	17. XVI. Setsubun Act I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day of cleansing away misfortune and bad luck is around the corner as a soulful, wise man appeared to sway away the holder of good luck!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so their time as first years ended with this story arc!  
> Onward to their time as second years which goes by really fast because shit happened! 
> 
> I also post updates on [twitter](https://twitter.com/dr_mdst)! So give a follow if you want some heads-up or updates on the next chapter or project!!

.....

' _They can't be serious about it_.....'

Koyasu Ryuko, _the Ultimate_ _Counselor_ , requested Mafuyu Hisao _the Former Ultimate Psychologist_ , Hoshino Sumire _the Ultimate Private Investigator_ and Oshiro Eiichi _the Ultimate ~~Spy~~ Lucky Student_, to halt their findings and suspicions on _The Genesis_ before we got caught.

If they did, there are chances of them using the academy's name as a proof of our dishonesty between two associates in the _Keiretsu system_. All attention and speculation will be too focused on the academy, _the distrust they have garnered over the past few years will accumulate more instead_.

' _Not only that... if they found out that Hope's Peak sent a literal spy to the sister's school.... they, including the Future Foundation, will get the short-end of the stick as well....._ '

"Hey, Eii-chan, you okay there...?"

"Nothing, _just thinking about something else_...." I quickly excused myself. Right after New Years' Eve, we've gotten a lot more busier than before. To make up the lost points from the _Cultural Festival_ , Taiga planned for a charity event with Mr. Kageo's company during _Setsubun_ at the same park we had our _Sakura-viewing outing_.

An event that anyone can join, including our classmates. With that kind of planning, it's easier for everyone to gather enough curriculum points before their graduation.

"It's kind of weird you're planning all of this yet our seniors just took advantage by just participating instead....." I pointed out. There were a few second-years who didn't participate in major festivals before suddenly joined in with this one. _As if they don't want to go through the paperwork hassle themselves_.

"It's fine!!" Taiga don't mind it at all as usual. "The more the merrier, you know!! It's a large-scaled event so we need a lot of people if we can!! It's going to be a very competitive match after all!!"

"It is... _a unique idea_...." An idea which mixes competitive paintball tournament with the bean-throwing elements of _Setsubun_. ' _Is it really painful to throw beans at others....? I can't imagine those things aiming at you at max speed...._ '

It still falls under the _Ultimate Marksman_ 's use of his talent here so it was easily approved by the _Student Council_ and _illuXion_ themselves. _Speaking of_....

' _Shino has been taking on multiple cases right after our trip the other day_.....' Sumire decided to visit her old orphanage after _Christmas_ and she invited me to celebrate the _New Years'_ with them.

At first, I wanted to declined, I find it weird that she wanted a complete stranger to come along but she's starting to open up a lot more and it would really be rude for me to turn it down now that she's being.... ' _nice_ ' to me.

It was a quick three-days off, shutting ourselves from everything to help out at her orphanage. It was there that I found out, in the midst of her absence from her workplace and the academy, she visited them to spent more time together and give them a hand whenever she can.

' _Then again_ , s _he's still disappearing off randomly and making me worked twice as hard as before... At least this time she has the sense to tell me beforehand and let me handle the slightly rougher part of the cases_....'

"Alright then!!" Taiga grinned at his banner-work for the event. "Now that the decorations are done, time to get to concocting with Mitsun!!"

"Aren't paintball pellets already spherical-shaped?" I asked. "And they're still harmless so why bother making a new set instead?"

"Ei-chan, you can't be serious about going against the children with those dangerous pellets!! They will get hurt!!" The marksman exclaimed. "Which is why Mitsun and I will make these soft pellets that will let out confetti instead if it hits them!! We tried to make them have this bean-like texture as well for a much more softer impact!!"

I shivered at the thought of the soft pellets turned into a pile of pulpy mash at the end of the competition. "R-Remember, we're still in-charge of cleaning after the event, okay? You've signed that paperwork with my name and yours only after all....."

"Ah!! That reminds me!!" Taiga straightened his back after checking the banner one more time, biting on the paintbrush handle. "Mind if ya' ask teach' if he heard anything from Mr. Kageo? Just ask him that, he will know!!"

"Why...?" My eyebrows arched, asking for more clarity behind his intention here.

"It's a surprise!! There's no way I wouldn't want to tell you and Sumi about it!!"

"Shino's involved as well?" That actually came out as a surprise to me instead.

"Yeah!! We needed two people in the opposing team!! So what's more exciting than trying to dispel _an actual demon_ on the battlefield!!" said Taiga. "It would be a dream team!! Two experts taking down those people who dares to banish us!! We will get rid of ya' really quickly!!"

".... _Please don't actually get rid of anyone for real during the event_...." He hasn't got fooled by anyone... _so far_. In fact, accidents involving the marksman has lessened over the months, ' _He will sure be happy to hear about his now spotless record_....'

After double-checking and making sure everything's set and finished for _Setsubun_ , I parted ways from Taiga to go and see the psychologist, ' _It's been a while since I've seen teach' as well.... since Ms. Ryuko forced us to be separated from each other. It's getting lonely without hearing their complaints all the time...._ '

* * *

Before I could even knock, my hand barely touched the door's surface, I heard an unfamiliar voice inside the room along with teacher's. I carefully placed my ear close to the door, trying not to make it rattle as I pressed myself against it.

"... I have told you many times before... my history with Hope's Peak had already been destroyed and shredded into pieces after **_The Tragedy_** ended.... _our association regarding the things you've asked for is non-existent at this point_...." an unfamiliar voice spoke out, stern and totally in-control here.

' _He doesn't sound like any other instructors in the academy.... did... teacher got another outside help...?_ ' I tried to hear the psychologist side's this time.

"I understand your strong hatred towards Hope's Peak... or more accurately _some of its people and the Future Foundation_...." Teacher's struggling to keep his voice together. He's entirely under pressure by whoever this person is. "But it's still important for me to bring it up to keep updates with our situation right now......"

"Fools like you and _Kyosuke_ are the reasons why all of these things will just end in disaster no matter what...." the person let out a frustrated groan. "What do you want me to say now? The last time I warned an ambitious man who wanted nothing but the best for _**the future**_ ended as predictable as I told him so I don't want to waste my breath here...."

".... No, I got nothing to say.... thank you for coming, really, I.... just needed your insight in this...."

"There's not much I can do, Hope's Peak still have Rai and I in their leashes... I'm still an assigned special instructor there so I can't stepped over the line....." I can hear a chair being moved. "However, do see me again if there's a breakthrough where I can somehow trapped these _small fries_ for good.... _ **I will end them on the spot**_...."

The person's approaching the door, I have to take a few steps back so that it would look like I've just arrived instead. The moment the door's opened, however, _I suddenly lost the ability to talk_...

__

_**Hoshino Iwao**_.

The _Former Ultimate Private Investigator of the Hope's Peak Academy_ is actually here again. Still wearing the same clothes before during _Tanabata_ -

"Eiichi..? Why are you here?" Teacher was right behind the investigator and I didn't see him. I was totally entranced by the person in front of me instead, "Were you here to ask me something...?"

"Umm....!" I tried to keep my composure, even under the cold glare of the investigator. "Taiga wanted to know about.... _the thing he requested_. I'm not sure what he said, about the thing he asked from Mr. Kageo?"

"Ah!! The explosions!!" The psychologist snapped his fingers, "Yes, of course, he said you guys can use them for the event-"

"Wait, explosions for what exactly!?" Is Taiga actually trying to make a real battlefield here!? Isn't he putting everyone in danger here!? "P-Please tell me that's just a gist of it...."

"Eh, he said something that looked like a landmine but..... it set off some sort of flare...?" Hisao tried to remember back. "Some kind of an alarm system!! That's what he described it anyways!!"

"Are you all.... recreating a battlefield or holding a family-friendly event...." Iwao asked. "This bizarre nature of this academy hasn't changed that much.... _separating itself from the main academy must have been a blessing_...."

"The students here are very creative after all!" Hisao boasted. "They all use their talents in very different ways!!"

"I see....." the investigator looked at me next. "You there, what's your talent?"

"Umm...." Let's see how often did the younger investigator talked about her classmates here. " _Oshiro Eiichi, the Ultimate Lucky Student_....."

"Oh, _Mirei-han's slave_..."

"Excuse me!?"

"At least from what I've heard......" Iwao crossed his arms together as he continued. "She talked about you before and I thought it would be another fling of hers. But the more she described it, _the more I think you're some kind of servant for her to push around_....."

"What kind of lies is she spouting this time....." He's not too far off but it's still a very extreme way to put it like that. "I'm just a helper for her student council's work...... sort of like an assistant...."

"And so I've heard..... so you're the lucky student that was transferred from Hope's Peak, huh......" he took one close look at me. "A talent that got recognized as a special title by the late _Kirigiri Jin_ himself... _after the suspension of that infamous white-haired student_....."

' _Is that.... some kind of background about Hope's Peak....? I've heard of that name before actually, the late headmaster-_ '

"Even so, I'm glad Mirei-han had a good time here..." Iwao's lips quirked into a smirk. " _Especially with someone that has such a talent like you_...."

" _Iwao, don't bully the children_....." the psychologist pouted.

" _Aren't you the one who loves to bully them in the first place?_ " the investigator check his watch. " _Oshi-han_ , I have a favor to ask you..."

"Yes....?" ' _Weird nickname, it makes me feel like I'm older than him instead..._ '

"..... I need help to find the entrance of this academy, I'm still new to this place...."

' _Dude, he was just lost before!?_ ' Factoring in his surprise visit to our class during _Tanabata,_ that might be the only reason here.

* * *

" _That's the place where the Ultimate Animal Behaviorist always feed her animals...._ "

" _Ah, so that's how Rai's daughter get away with keeping large animals on campus, how bold_...."

'.... _This is really strange_.....' Not only I'm guiding the infamous Hoshino Iwao here in this academy, I'm actively talking to him as if he's a close friend of mine. He asked very few mundane questions and I did my best to answered them as any other ordinary students here. ' _Is he testing me....? Or is he just that ordinary....?_ '

".... _Oshi-han_..."

"Yes?" I replied much quickly this time. There's a sense of urgency in his tone that made my obliged to listen wholly. 

"What are your thoughts about this disappearance case that the academy has been working on?" he asked, deadpanned. "I'm fully aware of your position in this case.... especially when Mirei-hand recommended to put you and the hacker under her authority...."

".... _What?_ " It's not the fact that he's aware of my purpose to him and the other younger investigator that caught my attention, it was the last sentence instead. "I thought the Hope's Peak Committee was the one who...."

" _ **She**_ insisted that it would be the best for students to be the representatives this time...." the investigator yawned. "After all, _if they sent me here, it would obviously raised too many red flags for our culprits here_......"

Iwao and Sumire really do share the same thought process; _following the culprits' way to trapped them altogether_. The younger one has the tendency to corner them, like some sort of trapped room situation while the older one's preferred to give them a lead, letting them fall into a false sense of security and hope. _They're basically predators playing around with their victims_.

"It's a smart call for her if I do say so myself..." the investigator breaks the silence. "After all, who the hell knows what kind of bullshit Hope's Peak will do with you two...."

"You're very hostile towards them...." I have never met anyone, who's an alumni and a prominent figure in the academy's history, with this much resentment towards Hope's Peak. "Even though you used to be a student and now an instructor there..."

"Oshi-han, _you will be surprised how many talented students they have exploited over the years_....." Iwao took out a small, worn-out notebook. "Hope's Peak always have a bad record if you really look beyond their shiny ultimate reputation. The previous headmaster was nothing but a spineless plankton who's too willing to let others take control of the academy...."

"W-Whoa, that's a bit harsh for you to say out loud?!" _'But I know what he's talking about...'_ If anyone knew about the real Hope's Peak Academy, their blind admiration will soon shattered. ' _I have to faked my reaction here in case someone's eavesdropping..._ '

"There's no students wandering around this place, it's almost the end of their break...." he calmly deducted. "If there are some still here, Kaoru would have bite their asses by now...."

"Y-You're really close with the _Hanabusa..._ " I guess Kaoru's speech about the rivalry between former investigator and yakuza was actually true after all.

"We got nothing in common except for one...." Iwao said. "... _**We detested Hope's Peak for what they've done and got away with it**_..."

'.... _There really is something that we're missing here_......' I have a feeling that somehow.... _even the academy he keep insulting here might have a role here_. "... You're making it sound like the students themselves are the bad apples here...."

"I have no problem with the students, _I was naive like them once_....." Iwao explained. "However, it's their belief that's dangerous here.... _to blindly put your faith in hope can only lead to vulnerability_. It's what I told the current headmaster..... _admiration can only get you so far before you're trapped and started regret everything_...."

' _Trapped and regret_.....' "Do you have someone who admired you that much...?"

"I have, plenty times before but I always discouraged them from getting too far ahead...." he answered. "They said they admired my diligence and they strive to be the same no matter what.... but the more they dwell into it, the more they realized they're not a perfect fit for it. So they blamed me for giving them ' _false hope_ '...."

' _Then Shino's the same_....'

".... I have no intention to be everyone's _hope for justice_ , nor do I even aim to be the _hope for future generations_ when I was under Hope's Peak..." said Iwao as he turned to his back. "I simply did what I do best because in the end, the old _Ultimates_ will be discarded and replaced by the newer _Ultimates_. See it as it is or not, a hierarchy was created for these talented people and others followed along with it without a thought....."

"Because _the idea of the Ultimate students being their only hope for the future is the reality they wanted to see and willing to accept_..."

After discussing such a heavy subject, the investigator bid his farewell once we've reached the front gates, he can carry the conversation with ease while I was entirely overwhelmed by it, '... _I didn't know he was that kind of person.... he's much more different than how people described him as-_ '

.... And that's already his point, ' _... People still talked about his work as an investigator... and they did the same when Shino took the stage.... but if he didn't meant for her to became one then.... why would he still allowed her?_ '

...........

'... _It's no good, everything I tried to reasoned that... it always come back to how everyone sees him as_....' I'm lost again. ' _Kaoru... Shino......_ '

* * *

"Hey, Eii- _Wow, you look dead_..."

"Well, I feel like dying from exhaustion....." This entire time, I've been thinking about that conversation with the former ultimate and it stresses me out every time I reached his final statement. "By the way, teacher said that you can use your..... _landmine things_..."

"They're just traps!! _Flare_ _traps_ , I called them!!" Taiga corrected. "And are you sure that's all? Because it took you a really long time to get back here.."

"I met Shino's mentor, that's why..."

"Ah, Iwao? How was he? I haven't seen that guy for a long time now...." Taiga asked curiously.

"He's... _talkative_...." I answered. "Was he always like that? I only knew him for being this cool-headed person who investigates runaway cases before...."

"Shockingly, _he's quite the opposite instead_......" Taiga replied. "There are some people in my neighborhood who knew him before and they said he was a real troublemaker, causing problems for Hope's Peak that leads to him getting suspended multiple times....."

" _And he still graduated?_ "

"Yup, after all, his solved cases record is enough for him to be some sort of proof that he really got those skills as an investigator!" The marksman confirmed that he did the same thing that Sumire's doing right now. "After that, he sort of disappears for a while and they only knew about his whereabouts given by the press...."

'... _It has to be related to Hope's Peak_....' It will explained his anger towards them, since he knew a lot about their background and other things. "But I can see the appeal.... _kind of_. He does have that cool and serious private detective persona...."

"... Why is he here for actually? _Is Shino's okay?_ "

"She's fine. I already told you, she sent her progress yesterday...." I said, backing myself up by showing the message I got from our missing classmate. "Bet he's here for that _disappearance case_...."

"That name really made me feel uneasy....." Taiga confessed. " _Disappearing off without a trace_.... but so far, nothing has happened now that we're close to becoming seniors!! And we managed to raked up some points for graduation before we got ourselves an avalanche of work for that new hotel opening up soon! "

 _That new hotel created by **The Genesis**_. "Feels unreal now that a year has gone by.... and Shino just decided to participate this one event for fun...."

"I made sure teach' and Mr. Kageo hired extra-strong securities that can't be breached!!" Kaoru's gonna be there, _got it_. "Nothing will be ruined! I will hunt them down if they even try to ruin the event!!"

" _Scaring them off also does the trick_...." Renma and Machi taught me that. "... Also... it's not too late to make a last minute change, right?"

"Hmm, if you wanna include someone else then I think it's fine... got someone in mind?"

"Yeah, I wanna invite some people over that will improved a certain someone's mood better.... _and it will make the game even fair between two teams_...." The investigator will surely come after me for doing this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, at myself: Don't even mention about some sort of backstory behind Iwao related to the Hope's Peak incidents, don't go too far with it.  
> Also me, at myself: Hey, you know what this needs..... this intricate detail where he just really hates everything.
> 
> _
> 
> This story arc just proved that literally everyone have a problem here.....


	18. XVII. Setsubun Act II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Demons out, luck in!!"  
> The demon has been slain, however misfortune has already started to spread around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This arc is more character driven-based than story based because I'm shit at planning things ahead.

The event's going to start soon and I'm already nervous, _for a very different thing_ , "Shino, Tai..... _this didn't started out as your need to recreate a FPS-type of game, right?_ "

"Kind of!!" the marksman admitted. "I got inspired by the game that Homare recommended to me and I tried to make it as kid-friendly as I can for the event!"

"And I only approved it as long as I'm on the opposing team...." Sumire smirked. "After all, my tactical skills have gotten a bit rusty and it would be a waste to overlook it...."

_She just wanted me as a target_ , there's no other reasons to it. The opposing team represented the ' _demons_ ' in _Setsubun_ and the other teams will have to throw beans at them to get rid of the ' _bad luck_ '. Hence, why I'm representing the other team due to my title. Taiga and Sumire also went as far as to wear demon masks, just to give themselves a bit of an disadvantage to their accuracy.

Renma decided to joined my team for obvious reasons as well as Shoma, _who just wanted to be here for fun. 'But I'm sure he will have fun with those people once they've arrived....'_

"Eii-chan...." Sumire called out. "Heard you invited another guests... are they really important to add in the list at the very last minute?"

"Oh, they are very important...." I can hear the medium cackling behind me. " _To you as well_...."

"What-" The investigator was suddenly struggled by a small kid who hugged her leg. She was about to ask them to kindly get off before she saw their face, "Huh- _Why are they-!?_ "

" _Big sis Mimi!!_ " The kid gave her a toothy grin. "Was big sis surprised? Everyone's here!!"

"Everyone..." she quickly turned to me. "Were they...."

"I thought it would be fun for you to play with them for old time sake...." I told her. A hard secret to keep from her, about inviting the children from her orphanage to join in the event, who will received the benefits and goods from the charity as well. "... _And I thought it would be a great disadvantage for you to not annihilate us straight away_...."

The investigator closed the child's ears before she cursed, "You fucker... you're trying to get me out of the competition that easily..."

" _It's two experts going against a group of newcomers_....." I reminded her. "So it's not that bad of a disadvantage for you, they will still have fun nonetheless..."

"You basically cheated here for including them in..."

"Taiga cheated first for including you in his roster..." I glared at the marksman who just whistled away, avoiding looking at me. "Anyways, _demon_ , please release that kid.... after all, I am _the bringer of good luck_ and you will be cleansed immediately!"

Even though Sumire has her demon mask on, I can still see her grinning behind it, "As if you can get rid of misfortune that easily...."

....

.......

_..........._

_It really did became a battlefield._

While the children were having fun, trying to shoot at the owners of the demon mask but once they're out of the field, _that's when the real bloodbath actually kicks in_. Even Shoma had too much fun with it ( _"Die, critter demons, die!! Demons out, luck in!!"_ he shouted during the middle of the match).

I tried to downplay my tactical skills, I need to be seen as amateurish while also getting back at Sumire as much as I can. At every blind spot, I managed to caught her off-guard with my shots. Miraculously, nobody fell for the flare traps that Taiga and Mitsuru created.

 _But nobody's surprised that Taiga and Sumire, the demons, won at the end_. The children were disappointed that they've lost but they still had a great time judging how they congratulate and getting excited over their _big sis' cool detective facade_ earlier.

Just by looking at her face, Sumire also had fun playing with them, ' _At least it worked out for both sides at the end... that's the real reward here....._ '

* * *

" _Hey, you alive?_ "

"Barely...." After few consecutive matches with other people, we finally have our break and I'm getting sore from trying to avoid Taiga's crazy accuracy shot while trying to help my team out. " _Remind me again why Taiga even needed a team to begin with_...."

"He said it's not fair that we have a demon who's a expert in this and quite nimble as well....." Sumire sat next to me, who's lying face down on the nice cool patch of grass under the tree. "And I said I want in and he allowed me easily...."

"It's open to everyone but I'm glad someone can replace my role here...." I groaned as I pushed myself up. "How about the rest...?"

"... Enjoying the event so far...." she muttered. "Hey, you invited them out here so that they could enjoy the event, right? Thanks for that, they've never had that chance before....."

"I thought they would make some great memories out of it, they should experienced a big celebration like that once in a while or else they will end-up isolating themselves from others if they're not used to it yet...."

"Yeah.... _at least they have some fond memories they can look back for_...." said the investigator. "I heard from mentor that you helped him out at the academy...."

" _It's just directions_....." So, he told her. Thankfully, we're completely away from the crowd, there's no other way to eavesdrop on us from afar. "He's... _something_....."

" _Mhn_...."

"... Hey, Shino....." I hugged my legs close to my chest, resting my arms on it. "Why exactly did you became an investigator? _Is it really because of your mentor?_ "

"What else did he said-"

"Shino, I know your way of avoiding the subject...." I interjected. "You don't have to distract me by bringing in another topic, you can just say you don't feel like talking about it....."

"Oh, so I do have a choice here...." said Sumire. "But I want to ask why do you want to know about it so badly? It's the only question that you still keep on asking for months now...."

"At this point, it's not even for satisfying my own curiosity now...." I told her. Her status as Iwao's student was always the main point here but the more I learned about them, the more I wanted to know if... _everything's really okay there_. "Meeting the real Mr. Iwao and knowing your own feelings towards them especially with how Kaoru sees him.... it doesn't seem right, _it's completely disjointed_....."

She didn't pointed out how the former _Ultimate Bodyguard_ is even related to this, dismissing as him running his mouth as usual.

"... He doesn't want to take people under his wing.... and yet you've been hailed as his protegee and student by everyone out of the blue that Iwao has to confirmed it himself...." I tried to pieced together the timeline, _when did Sumire was first_ _recognized_ , _when she said she was taken in by him_ and _when exactly did she solved her first case_. It was easy to find Iwao's whereabouts during her first case even, " _ **You solved a big case without your mentor's knowledge, didn't you?**_ "

".... _Impressive_...." the investigator smiled. "Did my skills accidentally rubbed off of you? I'm surprised you've managed to find all those clue yet not getting yourself caught as the suspicious one here....."

"It... _wasn't that hard at all_....." It was mostly Iwao's speech and whereabouts that helped me a lot. The rest is highly traceable, "The fact that you've suddenly solved a case while carrying his name at that time... he suddenly came back, placed under another spotlight just like before as an Ultimate student...."

"And so, _the little white lie continued till present time_....." Sumire finished it off for me. "Mentor wasn't allowed to admit there was a bit of corruption in his workplace back then. If he has to explained why he never intended for me to be his protegee, he would have to exposed half of his workplace for being easily paid off to end cases prematurely. He even was handling a big case back then and the client was a very powerful person that he doesn't want to be associated to their name if mentor decided to exposed them....."

"It was a politician's case he was handling, right?" Something about investigating and trying to rebuild a destroyed city caused by _**The Tragedy**_. _Towa City_ , if I remembered correctly. "It kind of make sense when Kaoru suddenly talking about restrictions and all....."

"Ru-chan has always been narrow-minded. In the end, _he's really no different than the people he hates_...." said Sumire, closing her eyes as she's enjoying the light breeze. "But that's on everyone still..... they all have stories on their own to back themselves up....."

"Do you really hate your mentor that much?" I asked, the question that's been bugging me ever since the beginning of our first semester. "Or is it really something else......"

" _Who knows_....." Sumire sighed. "I fucked up big time back then yet part of me is still in denial about it. I've grown tired of thinking about ' _what-ifs'_ already..... which is why I just leave as it is. I'm no longer interested in finding out about it myself...."

 _Let them believe in what they wanted to happened instead,_ so that's where that phrase she kept on saying came from. ' _It is what is or... it is what it has became more accurately....'_

"Alright then, now that those kind of stuffs are finally out of the way, it seems this _Setsubun_ event is a huge success for both Taiga and I....."

"You as well?"

"I didn't planned for it but to everyone else here who wanted to see this famed ' _Demonic Investigator_ ' in all her glory..." she said, " _They actually witnessed her execution instead_....."

' _Execution_...' The word suddenly got the gears in my mind started turning, concerning about other things. ".... How's Nara...?"

"From what I've heard from Ru-chan, nothing changed... still the same pattern...." Sumire answered, leaving no details behind. "Everything's slow and steady.... he also kept an eye out for the counselor and the other two...."

" _I managed to steered them away as much as I can_......" It's something that I should have done back then, a distraction for the other three instructors. "I didn't know Hope's Peak is going with this plan of building more _Ultimate_ academies internationally...."

"Actually, it was a plan brought up by the former vice-chairman of Future Foundation!" a familiar-looking cheery host approached us, _with too many sweet treats in his hands_. "It was put on hold until the current chairman actually proceed with the idea!!"

' _Mr. Kageo..... ah, and Higura, that's a plus...._ ' He actually dropped-by to visit his father. "Hope for the best for them then..... and it's good to see you in a really happy mood, Hira...."

"What the hell does that even mean?" the designer raised an eyebrow. "With the workload finally off my fucking back, I thought I could finally let off some steam in this game that shitty marksman have planned..... _I got eliminated right after I stepped into the battlefield_....."

"Who got you? Renma?"

" _Shoma_....." Wow, he's getting bloodthirsty lately.

"Being a sulky loser aside!!" the host tousled his son's hair up. "Have you two seen your teacher this morning? I personally invited him for this meeting later but none of my messages reached him....."

".... Teacher hasn't respond to our messages for the past few days....." Higura explained, his tone suggested that it's not a joke. "He said he's really busy before he went silent on us......"

_Silent like last time....._

_Oh._

**_Oh no_.**

"We will try as well....." Sumire covered up quickly, seeing how I'm too stunned to say anything back. "And if not then we will break into his residence to see what's going on..."

"Haha, that's too much for you to do!! If he said no then leave him be!!" Kageo nervously laughed. "After all, adults can be unexpectedly busy about certain things!! Right, Hira-"

The designer elbowed him in the stomach, " _Bring that business lingo into our conversation again and I will take my aim higher instead_......"

"R-Right, my bad.....w-we should get going... g-geez, you really hit a sore spot there....."

Kageo and Higura parted ways from us, wishing us to have a great time at the event instead. _But we have other plans that needs us to leave the park immediately_....

"..... _Teacher's location is still at the academy_....." Tracking people by their phones can still lead to false alarms, we don't know if they've left it behind or something worst. "We can still get there in a few minutes...."

"I'm calling Kaoru-"

" _ **No need, already here**_......"

Speaking of the devil, our current savior showed himself, hiding behind the tree as he placed his hands onto our heads like it's nothing, "To think my closest companions would bitched about me behind my back...."

" _We're not wrong and this is not the time_...." Sumire grabbed his arm, gripping it tightly to make him focus. The bodyguard's expression changed as his hand twitched, " _We need to see teacher now_...."

"Y-Yeah, heard that..... but first, _check this one out_..." he quickly pulled out his phone that has some sort of article on its screen currently. "This is from today... it was published a few minutes ago right when those two arrived......"

"Why do you have to wait for them to leave-" All words died on my lips, the article..... _solved the mystery that Kageo and Higura's wondering about our teacher's status._

It..... _**happened again**_.

Sumire lets go, her eyes widened but she managed to get her words out easier than mine, "Kaoru, _take us there_... _**now**_...."

With a quick message to Taiga, Shoma and Renma, saying that some sort of emergency came up and I need to leave early, the three of us exited the park with fear plaguing our mind, the same thought we all have right now, ' _ **It happened again**_....'

* * *

The academy's still in a semester break mood as students rarely go out of their classroom to waste time at other places or be inside their labs, tinkering away. Especially with our seniors who already feel accomplished, lazing around in their seats while the first-years are busy with their graduation preparations.

Sumire and I made it to the counselor's room without a problem yet.... we don't have it in us to face another horrible scene, _a horrible thing that just happened like Nara_. We didn't ask him but Kaoru opened the door for us, making us approached it head-on without thinking. _Without even preparing ourselves for what's coming...._

The psychologist is in his usual desk, arms folded and head resting on top of it. His figure's shaking a bit and as we stepped closer to him, to ask him if he's okay, we can hear him muffled out what he's saying. It's hard to hear but _we both knew he's crying_...

"Teacher-" The investigator reached out to him but he suddenly stood up, his eyes visibly swollen and red. He was heaving a bit, and right when he realized our presence in the room..... _he breaks down_.

"..... _They're gone_....." Hisao mumbled out. "... They're no longer here.... they're gone.... I've been looking for them since this morning.... until.... _I saw_ ** _it_**...."

'.... _The article about the passing of two innocent people...... a young woman and her child_...... _who were found near the lake_....'

"W-We will find them.. we swear-"

" _ **Don't you dare say that!!**_ " The psychologist forcefully grabbed her by the shoulders, Sumire didn't get any chance to react as she let out a small surprised noise. Kaoru and I were immediately on our guard, we don't want to hurt him but.... we will have to physically restrained him if we have to.

".... It's just what they wanted....." Hisao continued. "If we continued this.... they will get you all next..... as long as we're still here..... they won't stop.... so Sumi, _please, don't make that kind of promise anymore_....."

"Teacher, you....." Is he... suggesting we should give up...? "N-No, there has to be another way-"

" _ **There is**_......" the investigator interjects, with a distressed look on her face this time. "It's something teacher and I have been meaning to do..... _but_....."

She went quiet for a moment before she turned to the bodyguard standing besides me, " _Kaoru_....."

"What were you planning- _What the!?_ " I felt myself being lifted up from the ground, Kaoru held me from behind, locking our arms together so that I couldn't escaped from him. "What's the meaning of this!? _Sumi, Kaoru!?_ "

The investigator and psychologist didn't say or move from their spot, they've just watched me getting dragged away from them with a sorrowful look on their faces. It wasn't until I got thrown out from the room and into the hallway, finally free from the restraint as Kaoru closed the door behind him, leaning against it and watching me carefully.

"Sorry about that.... it's a serious matter that no one should mess with....." he said simply. 

"That doesn't answer my question at all!!" I yelled at him. "What's going on!? What's Sumi planning here!?"

".... _Something that she should have done a few months ago_...." Kaoru replied, looking down on me with a glare. "..... _Before those shitheads instructors were even involved..... for making us play nice to them_......"

"Then what am I-"

" _Stay out of this_....." He then rested his head against the door, eyes staring up the ceiling. "It's what she wanted you and everyone to do in the first place... _she will handle it by herself_....."

"No, she can't....." Not when we're this close into getting them, "... if she's going for the kill then I could have at least helped! I would have done it for her instead!! It's my duty as well!!"

" _That's the issue here_....." Kaoru replied nonchalantly. ".... No one's supposed to get hurt while she's handling the case.... and she made sure of that..... she made sure everyone's safe from harm....."

".... _ **Even if she has to put herself through it instead**_...."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so ends their first year.....
> 
> "Why is that lake statement.... sound so familiar....."  
> \- Refer back to the last class trial before coming back here and just..... scream.


	19. XVIII. Old Ensemble Act I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New school year... new troublesome thing that lies ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also post updates on [twitter](https://twitter.com/dr_mdst)! So give a follow if you want some heads-up or updates on the next chapter or project!!

".... _there will be a lot of people later which is why_ \- _**Hey, are you even listening here**?_"

"Huh, _what?_ " I spaced out just from hearing Machi going on and on about the new students and their future proposals again for the fifth time. "S-Sorry, I didn't really catch the first part...."

"Hey, hey, you gonna have to open those eyes and ears wide open from now on, _vice prez_..." Machi crossed his arms, glaring right at me as I shrink into my seat. "You're now a second-year, there's no way I wanna save your ass for the millionth time until graduation......"

' _Second years_....' We finally moved onto our final year here in this academy, _soon to be celebrated as the 50th class that will be graduated next year_. It wasn't until the end of last year did we experienced some troubling things. After that, we were kind of scattered around as much as we could, avoiding detection from outsiders. _Now..... it doesn't feel like we're even hiding anymore..? Nor are we trying to continue with the disappearance here._

 _'Sumire's the student council president now but she's still working on other cases, she said so herself.... and teacher's on break as well, after **that**_ **awful** _**incident**. The student council will be handled by that physician instructor instead, as our adviser...'_

"Still... thank you, Macchan... for having my back......" The librarian has done so much to keep me afloat. "... Can't imagine ended up here without you around.... _I will truly die from stress during Shino's absence_...."

"I will call up Makkun, _if it actually happened_ , to hold a seance. It's not very professional to skip work even when you're deceased......"

" ** _Hey_**..."

"Just a joke... Makkun will just scold me if I actually ask him that for his classmate...." said Machi. "Don't forget you have plenty of helpers here already. Not only Homare and I, but Shoma and Hinako as well....."

Even though Sumire is the president here, most of the changes to the council were done by the secretary instead. Machi created a new position once he secured his; _disciplinary officers,_ in which he puts the animal behaviourist and marine biologist in immediately.

"Is it really necessary to have the discipline thing??" I skimmed over the report that those two sent about the newer students. "It's only been a week and there's nothing troubling popping up so far. In fact! They're more calmer than their own seniors here!!"

Compared to when we first arrived here...... _the difference there is really clear_.

"Nonsense, it's an absolute must...." Machi started. "I will have to remind you that because of _our terrible performance of being studious last year_ , our juniors will get the wrong idea that we're not going to be strict on them. And so we will have to make sure they don't go too far with skipping out lessons...."

"Well, they already know that attendance isn't mandatory so what are you gonna do with that?" I'm not really in with Machi's plan here but I'm.... _really curious to see him acting things out_.

"Of course, there's a limit.... _and once that limit has been.reached_....." the librarian let out a sinister chuckle. "Hinako and Shoma will oversee their punishment. _They will have to experienced through the fiery pits of hell as it drained their souls 'till they dried out_..."

"..... _Makkun, is that you? Did you swapped body with Macchan?_ "

"No, I did not swapped body with that medium.... I would never let anyone take control of my own physique...."

"Good... I was afraid that he finally achieved that level of supernatural....." I sighed heavily. "But no, I won't allow that, don't abuse your power like that...."

"Tch, fine, we will resort to scolding instead...."

" _ **Don't do anything that would scare the juniors away**_...." Just what gives him the idea that he's untouchable now that he's part of the student council? His efficiency was already enough to improve the academy's workload by tons, _he doesn't have to go that far_. "... _I'm now not sure if I'm glad or regret having you here_....."

"Changes aside, I'm not gonna do anything that would piss you or the instructors off....." replied Machi. "There's already three demons exist in this academy and I don't want to be the fourth one.... that's bad luck...."

" _Shino, Hina and Ren_....." Those three are the scariest people left here. Ah, now I get why he put Hinako in that disciplinary officer position. "... Now with your issues settled as our first act. _The next thing is about Homare and Higura_...."

It happened before the beginning of our second year, the fencer and graphic designer got stopped by other people to confirm these _dubious rumors_ about their family' business that's spreading around currently. That activity has been increasing inside the academy as well.

"Unfortunately, it's way out of our control....." I looked through my phone, checking out the academy's SNS. "Filtering things is one solution but there's nothing we can do outside of it....."

"Whoever is spreading those nasty rumours have pretty serious grudge against them....." Machi commented. "If the juniors saw those rumors, they might have second thoughts about cooperating with them, even under the instructors' guidelines. Homare and Higura said that they got everything under their control on their side but it will take a while for them to even accept any proposal from the students."

Basically, they're waiting until everything calmed down when they finally find out who's responsible for it. I didn't tell the instructors or even teacher and Sumire about it but I've been working with the _Former Ultimate Private Investigator himself, Hoshino Iwao_. With how everyone's been hiding secrets and keeping themselves shut, it doesn't feel like I can trust every single one of them now.

And so I resort to seeing a more honest help from the professional here. ' _Not sure if Shino knew..... I really don't want her to hate me for not putting much faith in her work but this isn't the time to be wasting away with coming up some complicated plans.... we need to find out what exactly they're aiming before anything bad happened-'_

" _ **We have arrived**!!_" Suddenly, the door slammed into the wall with a loud bang that startled both Machi and I. With our only wall that's dangerously dangling from its bolts, two familiar faces entered the room, "Hahaha! It's like visiting my old man at work!!"

"... Taiga... Hiroshi......" For a moment there, I thought it was the physician doing the dramatic entrance. "Why are you guys here...? You're not allowed here-"

" _And you two broke down the door, you bastards!!_ " Machi shouted as he pointed at the said busted door. "You're lucky we're having study period right now!! What happened if the juniors saw you two do that!? They will immediately copy you two's antics!!"

"Hey... _just relax already_ , Macchan!" Hiroshi tip-toed his way to the librarian, playfully squishing the other's cheeks. "You've been stressing out since this morning's assembly! That's really bad for you! You will ended up growing white hairs!!"

" _Huh?!_ "

_Hiroshi just struck his weak point there_.

"That's right!!" Taiga piled on top of the abseiler, picking up the strands of Machi's front hair. "You will no longer be called our _sister_ but instead our _grandma_ ', ya' know!"

"S-Shut up!!" Machi stepped backwards away from the meddlesome duo, it's barely noticeable but there's a faint blush on his cheeks ."Y-You think by bringing that up, I could just forget about that broken door for a second-!?"

" _Kids, please don't play around with your grandma' that much_...." I laughed, couldn't help myself as I joined in their little charade. " _Come now, I will listen to what you wanna tell us here!_ "

"Huuuuh, if Macchan's the grandma' then Eii-chan's the grandpa' here!?" Hiroshi faked gasped. "Does that mean Macchan took Eii-chan's hands behind our backs!?"

"That's right. Come over here, darling. As your loving husband, I will surely make you happy!" I beckoned the librarian closer. "Don't look so embarrassed in front of your children-"

"Ahhhh! I had enough with you three!!" Machi sputtered out. "I-I'm leaving!! I will be at the library if you want a more serious conversation without these two here!!"

The duo triumphed as they managed to make the librarian leave without getting them into trouble. "Yay! Our sins will be forgotten!!" Hiroshi cheered. "Now that we finally unlocked the weakness of our terrifying Macchan, we can get away with anything!"

"Don't do it too often or else he will grow immune to it...." I advised them. "Seriously though, don't pester him that much, you know how serious he is about these things...."

"Oh, we know!!" Taiga said. "That's why Hibiki and Mitsuru decided to planned an outing, just those three people hanging out later!! A simple shopping outing with the _Pretty Trio_ to relax back a bit!"

"Can't believe how fast that nickname got spread around within the first-years..." Hiroshi commented.

To think Machi was described to be on the same level of Hibiki and Mitsuru in terms of their beauty..... okay, _it's not really hard to envisioned that_ , the librarian is good-looking and has been gaining plenty of admirers lately. "Then I will count on them to help him out.... _I don't want to suffer even more if his mood worsened the next day_....."

"He's no different than Amane when someone criticized him surprisingly..." the abseiler muttered. " _That junior yesterday even enjoyed being stepped on_ -"

" _ **As I was saying**_ , why are you guys here?" I asked them. "There's always something up if there's the two of you here....."

There's a way to recognise trouble in our class; if it's Hiroshi, then it might be something ridiculous and if it's Taiga, then it's something really dangerous and should be defused no matter what the request is. _If it's both then say goodbye to your graduation_....

"A class party!!" Taiga must have recommended the idea prior seeing us here. "Since it's our last year here! Tai and I planned to have a farewell party soon with everyone including teacher!! Higura's even on it as well!!"

' _Higura also_..' While the designer keep on seeing us as tolerable people, he still sees us as his family, he even took Mitsuru's advice with amending his attitude towards Mr. Kageo. Overall, he really cherishes his classmates a lot, even though he kept that word to himself only.

"That would be nice...." There's no reason for me to even reject that idea, the only problem is... "Teacher and Shino are away without a deadline here.... we don't exactly know when they will come back...."

"Surely, it can't be for that long...." Hiroshi reasoned. "Sumi herself even promised to no longer take up any cases that required five months-long research!!"

" _I'm not so sure_....." Sorry, everyone, for not being able to tell you all. "But let's hope it's soon.... after all, you know how those two are, always popping out of nowhere..... _**like you two did just now**_...."

"Well, that's just how we are!!" Hiroshi laughed it off. "We will wait till those two come back then we can planned out our class party!! It wouldn't go well if everyone isn't here! That's all to report, vice prez!! I will be taking my leave now!!"

"Roshi, that's a window-"

"I hooked my gear at every single openings of the academy's wall for a quick escape!"

"Why do you need a faster escape route?"

"To get away from Macchan before he could even say a word!! Now then-!! _Bye-bye!!_ "

We watched as Hiroshi, who sat on the window sills, fell backward, we heard no impact or screams yet so it's a safe bet that he made it out safely. We did saw his countless attempts to make a quick escape and almost all of them failed, _and those that didn't usually involved us catching him_.

"Is everything all right?"

"Hm, what is?"

"About Sumi....." Taiga repeated herself. "I know you two don't really live together per say but you usually have a good idea on her situation here. So to hear that you don't know at all this time is kind of worrying...."

"Don't think about it too much. This is the _Ultimate Private Investigator_ we're talking about....." I gave him a reassuring smile. "The demon who managed to wipe out a professional paintball team within seconds...."

"I also helped her that time!! Don't forget about me!!" He reminded me of that time during _Setsubun_. "We're the unstoppable duo!! Even with your good luck, there's no way you can beat us!!"

"Yes, yes, even though you ended up intentionally losing to other children later on in the match...." He still has a soft spot for them, there's no way he wants to make them feel sad about losing. ".... If there's anything that Shino could even be working on...... _it might be about those_ _rumors_....."

Higura and Homare aren't the only people that being targeted here, some even extended their wrongdoings onto Sumire, Amane and Hinako as well. Taiga and I caught wind of it first before others. The rumors about the investigator weren't exactly new but they're becoming more rampant with their reports lately.

" _It's terrible_......" Taiga frowned. "Hoshino Iwao and his student hasn't done anything wrong yet they dragged their names down _just because_. How unforgivable....."

".... Tai, how well do you know about Investigator Iwao actually?" The way he spoke of him, as if they've met before in the past. Sumire even knew about Taiga before we enrolled here so there has to be some sort of connection there. "I mean, you're really close to Shino even before we all met for the first time...."

"You see our brawl as a sign of our long-time friendship?"

" _I've lost my will to even act in awe every time something new and ridiculous thing happened_....." Almost everyone here expressed their selves in various eccentric ways.

"It's not more of a personally interaction but the investigator was working on the case that was involved in my neighborhood...." said Taiga. "With him, he brought along Sumi and that's probably..... _five years ago_...?"

So she met Shoma and Taiga when they were young? From what I know, Shoma's mother and Investigator Iwao were in some sort of meeting, leaving the other two children to their own devices. Sumire said it was seven years ago when she started learning to become like her mentor. _A year right after she accidentally solved a case without her mentor knowing_.

"I guess childhood crushes are truly a real thing...." I let that sentence out.

"H-Huh!? W-Why do you bring that up now- Ah!! Are you saying I have a crush on Sumi or something!? _No way!! Absolutely impossible!!_ "

"..... _Tai, are you fucking serious?_ " I stared at him, dumbfounded. "You gave her a very special gift for _Valentines' Day_ compared to others, reacted really loudly when you received yours on _Whites' Day_ and you even said it yourself that you're happy she has someone by her side during _Tsukimi_!"

Not only that, whenever we asked him about his crush, _he keeps on glancing at the investigator briefly_. He's not being subtle about it all!! Barely keeping himself from being vocal about it!

" _J-Just like that and you figured it all out!?_ "

" _The whole class knew about it at this point_..." Homare suggested that we shouldn't said it to his face or else he will surely have a breakdown. It's the same thing we did with _her secret_. "But if it makes you relax a bit, Shino didn't really know about it.... or she knew but she doesn't take it seriously...."

"I-I see.... seriously though, you guys better keep it to yourselves!!" Taiga demanded. "I really don't want things to go bad between all of us here...."

_Neither do I_. Considering our situation here, without others knowing, it's becoming really dangerous lately and the one thing that we're least expecting is another fallout between close friends.

' _Like Nara before_.....' My hands clenched for a bit at the thought of the hacker. "Anyways, if there's nothing else you wanna tell me, then it's best we should leave for class now, I've already finished my task here for today....."

"You're getting more uptight than usual, huh, Eii-chan?"

"Guess I accidentally picked it up from someone else...." I have to fill in her place in this academy, _one way or another_.

"Wait! Another thing! Are you free tomorrow night?" Taiga whipped around. "Roshi, Kiharu and I are planning to head out to experience the late night city lifestyle, especially with Hinako guiding us around!!"

' _I hope she doesn't take them somewhere dangerous_....' "I have plans tomorrow, sorry....."

_**With someone whom I should have trust from the beginning.** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A breather chapter before the..... 'thing'.


	20. XIX. Old Ensemble Act II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A late night out with the old wolves of the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ TW ]  
> Underage Drinking!!
> 
> It's barely shown here but just in case!!

The next day, nothing unusual had happened. Usual antics in our classroom, usual lessons by other instructors, and I even observed the other three instructor more closely than before. Allies or not, it's something I'm being asked to do.

Not by Sumire or the psychologist.

Not even by the spymaster.

 _But by Hoshino Iwao himself_.

" _It doesn't matter if they're trustworthy or not. If one group can't stand being on the same wavelength together then there's something else holding them back_...." the older investigator said.

I managed to get by the whole day with minimal effort, regarding student council tasks and other school works. I've made sure everything's well taken care of before I meet up with the former ultimate tonight.

The place Iwao have chosen is.... _a strange one_. I was shocked to find it to be the bar near where I was previously assigned to, before I was approached by Sumire. Figures that he doesn't want our secret location to be be remotely close to the city or anywhere, but it will be troubling if I got recognized there.

 _After all.... all the shops there did get mysteriously_ _hit by bad luck after I left_....

Luckily, the investigator escorted me through the place until we get to our designated location, any lingering eyes will immediately met by the silent yet threatening gaze of his. ' _Definitely not his first time here, he must have been here plenty of time for any secret meetings... but with who, I wonder. Who would even want to go to this dangerous part of the area..._ '

"I've asked the owner here to prepare our table in advance...." the investigator spoke up as he took a seat. "I apologize if it doesn't suite your taste bud...."

"I'm not a picky eater...." I told him. A VIP room at the back, roped off from others and our view can be closed off with the red velver curtains hanging from the wall, I wonder why I never heard of this place before. "Then... what should we start with?"

"Not yet...." He opened up a bottle of wine that's been prepared on the table with an extra bottle, pouring it into his glass. "We need to do a bit of warm-up before we get wrapped ourselves with this talk... it's my own business etiquette, you can say. You drink these kind of stuffs before, right? Are they any good?"

"I'm not old enough, Mr. Iwao...."

"Ah, but you lied about your age a lot before this right...." he smirked. "You have to proved your lie to be the truth here so I'm sure you broke some social rule here and there...."

"..... It's a bit bitter...." I told him the truth. "But it gets better the more you had it...."

"There you go...." Iwao chuckles as he pour my glass as well. "No need to fear about being frowned upon, it's a natural thing to pick up while having a sketchy job. _Talking from first-hand experience_...."

"I really don't like it though....." I sighed. "Especially when I have to play nice all the time around them, accepting whatever things they pushed onto me....."

"Still, it's impressive that your tolerance hasn't failed you yet....." the investigator commented. "Made you look like a really convincing adult.... most people would drop everything and leave when they're under that kind of pressure....."

"It's fitting for me....." I muttered. It didn't take long for me to realize why exactly is he stalling here, " _Are we waiting for someone else?_ "

"Why do you ask?"

"You've said that the owner here prepared our table in advance..." I scanned around our surroundings. "There's three glasses on the table and the fact that I didn't ask you to, you poured my glass anyways but not the other. _Because that other bottle on a stand-by is for that specific person, isn't it?"_

"That guy has an awful choice in drinks....." he said. "And I'm not too sure if he has changed things up so I stopped myself. We don't want a second bloodbath to happen now, _do we?_ "

_Second bloodbath? Could it be the person is..._

" _Sorry for the wait_...." The curtains got pulled back rather harshly by the said individual we're waiting for. His green eyes just stared down at us, "Got some other shit to take care of....."

 _What rotten luck I'm having now_. The person Iwao's talking about is _**Hanabusa Raisei**_ , the _**Former Ultimate Yakuza**_. The leader of the _Hanabusa Clan_ and father of both _Hinako and Kaoru, Ultimate Animal Behaviorist and Former Ultimate Bodyguard_ respectively _._

The older man ignored my star-struck reaction as he take a seat next to the investigator, he pulled out a cigarette and immediately light it up for a smoke, "Want one, Iwao?"

"I've already left that habit behind me so don't even try...."

"Heh, starting out clean already? _What a joke_...."

' _J-Just a few sentences in, their murderous aura started spreading around, so suffocating_....' I gulped, my hand still on the glass. "S-So everyone's here...."

"What about Mizuru?" Iwao asked the yakuza leader. "She's not dropping by? I thought she would definitely look into these matters for some extra cash?"

"She's greedy but she still have some pride for her family...." Raisei answered. "She's not touching this at all since she has that child to take care of and a husband she doesn't wanna cause trouble for....."

" _Not surprising_...." the investigator turned his gaze towards my direction now. "It's only the three of us then. _More better that way_. We will start with your side first before we filled it in with ours....."

" _Understood_...." This whole case started when we were first taken up by the Hope's Peak Committee after all. So it makes sense to start with us, "Sumire, Nara and I were approached by the _Hope's Peak Academy_ about this case when we first got recruited to be their students. As part of the task, we are to disguised as _Ultimate_ students as the sister school for further investigation and surveillance of its students and academy as well..."

"Mirei-han took you two under her guidance so any orders regarding the both of you, _they have to sought it through her first_...." Iwao continued. "Your task is merely to make monthly reports of any evidences to the headmaster of _Hope's Peak_ to further complete the puzzling case they've been dealing for almost a decade....."

"However, due to the fruitless attempts and rising tensions in catching this group in the act... the sister school turned to the former students to help them out...." Raisei joined in as well. "Kaoru offers them protection for their students but the _Hanabusa Clan,_ as a whole, offers them to find other new leads to the case....."

"Then, because of the partnership that sister school made in secret without Hope's Peak and Future Foundation knowing, we found all evidences pointing towards _**The Genesis**_ , a company that's listed as the Ultimate academy's benefactor and an eco-tourism company...." I listed. "There were some inconsistencies with their records submitted to the academy compared to their own in the data system we got from the _Ultimate Hacker_ but right before we can solidified them as our main suspect... _they_....."

".. _Try to cover up their tracks_....." No matter what, I still couldn't bring myself to say it. Thankfully, the investigator went on with it. "They removed all the evidences the academy has that could incriminate them. They won't hesitate to file a defamatory case against academy as it will automatically win on their favor while we have nothing to defend ourselves....."

"We can't involved the people who have possible links with them as some sort of testimony..." Raisei brought up the people who caused trouble during the events. "The dead won't talk and it will only kill our innocence that we kept their identity hidden from their family...."

".... That's the entire overview...." We're in a tight pinch, now that I look at the whole thing carefully. "... Now, they're gaining on everyone..... _getting rid of us one-by-one_...."

"The passing of Hisao's family was an unfortunate oversight on our part....." Iwao stated. "However, with them being both the fifth and sixth victim in this case, _I managed to figure out the reason behind their deaths_....."

The investigator then pulled out something from his jacket, threw it onto the table. The metal band rolled onto the surface for a while before it fell flat on its side. "What's that....?"

"I'm pretty sure whoever's in charge of the autopsy on your side was forced to silenced their findings....." Iwao replied.

"I didn't ask, _it's obvious they died from poisoning_...." I held up the metal band, letting it reflect under the artificial light. "So the poison was contained inside this thing? How do you know about this?"

"Rai here has his eyes on a lot of people, politicians and businessmen, every single one of them are under heavy surveillance by his family for either protection.... _or to prevent any disloyalty on the demanding party_...." the investigator gestured the yakuza to answer instead.

"With technology like that.... _my mind went to this one family_....." Raisei rubbed the bud of the cigarette onto the table to extinguish it. "Won't say who, but all that's left of that family is their son. He doesn't recognized it but if someone from his family did made it... then it's by some distant relatives....."

"So there's no clear answer about its origin....." I was getting a bit hopeful just hearing about it. "But why would they made these..?"

".... What do you remember about _**The Tragedy**?_"

"Huh..?" Is there any significance about it that could relate back to this case? I could hardly remembered what even happened back then, _much less during the end of it_. "I don't really remember..... just that the Future Foundation rebuild themselves as well as the Hope's Peak Academy with their new headmaster...."

".... It's nice to forgot about the disastrous past but...." Iwao started. "Those metal bands aren't exactly new here, they were first used during the final stage of _The Tragedy_ , _a killing game among the Future Foundation members by the founder himself who got tainted by despair_...."

" _A killing game_......" I stared longingly at it. "What exactly happened...?"

" _Exactly the same damn thing I warned them not to make_....." the investigator glared. " _ **Unnecessary sacrifices**_...."

"That damned founder forced its own members to start killing each other in order for one of their members to take action....." Raisei gritted his teeth. " _Brainwashed the whole world for hope_...."

"B-Brainwashed..." That's..... can such a thing happened....?

"However the broadcast was cut short..... thankfully only a handful people were affected by it, however those same people who got affected.... _undergo some terrible side effects_....." Iwao explained. "Right after The Tragedy, the Future Foundation decided to help these people... _with the aid of our suspect here_...."

" _ **The Genesis**_...." My eyes widened. "They were there...?"

"They're a different kind of people from what they presented themselves right now...." He corrected. " _The Genesis_ was originally created to help and cure these people suffering from the effects of the brainwash but... they accidentally overlook some of their progress and let those same people go....."

".... So they've conquered the whole organisation just like that...?" I can't believe what I'm hearing right now. _A simple mistake that could have been prevented_. "Why didn't anyone stopped them...?"

"Hate to say this but human errors are the most common reasons for these kind of things....." the investigator answered. "They might have fooled them to think they were fine... only for them to caught them off guard..... and so the mass keeps growing and growing..... after all, _**despair** is contagious and everywhere_..."

__

_**Despair**_. My whole body just stiffened just hearing that word and my head starting to hurt a lot, trying to remember some thing. _Is this caused by the same thing...?_ "How... do you exactly know about these things....?"

"As an alumni of Hope's Peak, it came with a lot of advantages....." Iwao explained. " _Especially coming in close contact with the Future Foundation people themselves_. There's also matters in the past that still grants me permission to enter their domain...."

"Oh yeah, whatever happens to that guy that hired you before?" Raisei asked. " _He's still around?_ "

" _Don't know, don't care_.... serves him right for being short-sighted....." Iwao downed his wine. "I have little to no feelings for people making mistakes even though they already knew what will happened at the end....."

"Typical of a teacher to talk shit about their ex-students behind their back...."

' _So Mr. Iwao was a teacher even before the tragedy happened.... that's what I'm getting here_....' "Why did you became a special instructor at Hope's Peak?" I asked him. "If you really hate them that much after you graduated, why keep working with them?"

".... In the past, we have this one group called ' _The Steering Committee_ ' that resides in that academy...." the investigator started. "They have the utmost control of the activities that's going on in the academy and there were rumors started circulating around about this _immoral project_ they're working on while using Hope's Peak' motto as a facade for it...."

"Cut that shit short. you don't have to sugarcoat for this person here...." Raisei snarled. " _ **A human experimentation**_ , to create mankind's greatest hope...."

"Impatient as always....." Iwao glowered at him. "That's their main goal of the academy, _to fulfilled the founder's wish_....."

"You were only there..... to investigate that secret project they've been hiding...?" It's sickening, I just shivered at the though of it even happened- "..... With all this talk about _**The Tragedy**_ that you started......"

"That's right...." the investigator nodded, seeing how I finally pieced together what's he's trying to say. " _ **The Tragedy**_ started with a group's selfish desire that's served as an advantage point for a catastrophe to happened. An event caused by the _**Ultimate Despair**_ who uses their own goal up to their advantage.... so if we apply to that similar event to what happened right now....."

"Then who in the Yumeino Ultimate Academy for The Elites have that strong desire for their own selfish gain?" Raisei completed his sentence. "After all... a small group couldn't do all of that without a help of someone else inside the academy...... like.... how did they know about all those information you were kept and how did they know about your comatose friend's progress...."

" _ **Rai**_....."

"I'm contributing, even though it's against my own moral code to do it...." the yakuza snorted. "At least I get my intel in the best way possible unlike you who takes some unknown big-shots into their rooms-"

In a blink of an eye, Iwao just smashed the wine glass against Raisei's face, barely missed his eye as the other reacted more quickly. It still caught him off-guard as he just sat there, bleeding. " _Forgive the obscenities there_...." Iwao cleared his throat. "It's something not worth bringing up for our current discussion..."

"That's... a very strong dismissal about it....."

" _Tch_ , you have no idea the stuffs this bastard did in the past, in order to get what he wants....." the yakuza still has some venom in his words, even when he's gravely injured right now. " _He has done a lot of dirty businesses before_...."

"Not in front of a child, Rai...."

" _THAT'S_ the reason you hit me for?! You bastard, you're really asking for it!!"

"For some reason... this rivalry between Mr. Iwao and Mr. Rai that people keep on saying...." my illusions really keeps on breaking every time I get to know these mysterious people better. "It's like I'm witnessing an old couple bickering instead....."

"Is that so...." to my shock, the investigator actually let out a laugh at that statement. "Well then, it seems our old habits hasn't died off completely..."

" _ **They will only die if you die first**_..."

" _ **Then try and make it happened**_....."

' _Shino, Hina... you two really take it after your guardians here...._ ' I let out an awkward laughter as our serious discussion escalated into a cat fight.

.....

............

.....

".... Oshi-han, I haven't expressed my gratitude from before but _thank you_...." after a long night of arguing, those two finally settled down with the yakuza leader passed out drunk and the investigator being the first one to break the silence. " _For being Mirei-han's friend_....."

"It's not a big deal...." Perhaps, she's a really difficult person to understand so I get why he's thankful for me to remained by her side. "We are required to work on the case together after all...."

"Not about that....." he clarifies. " _The fact that you're more interested in getting to know the person behind the facade_. Mirei-han.... has become a bit of a recluse lately.... she hasn't spoken to me or any other co-workers in our place lately...."

"You don't know about her whereabouts now?" Surely that must be something else, I just hoped that it's just her disappearing off like last time during _Tsukimi_. "Does she always do that...? Always running off without telling anyone, I mean...."

"If my memories serves me right, she always has that habit since she first taken up the investigator job..." he told me. "Doesn't matter when or where, she will wander off, solving cases that was either for other people or myself. Honestly, she needs to be more vigilant or else these things reaches _**those type of people**_ without me knowing...."

_The_ _rumors_.... "Do you know who might be behind those things?"

"I have an inkling, however that same inkling was immediately dashed away when I've realized something odd....." the investigator furrowed his brows. "This person who published those tabloid is currently behind bars yet there's someone out there currently using their name....."

"Do you think it's just someone else riding their tailcoats?"

"Not sure yet but it's so damn annoying...." he sighed heavily. "I wanna see to this person and proved how wrong they are!"

' _Oh, it's finally kicking in_....' Iwao's alcohol tolerance is a lot more resistant than Raisei's. He almost slurred his speech there. But it doesn't mean that it has completely taken over him, he's still conscious and present.... _mentally_. "Now there's two things you're worried about here...."

".... _I have a feeling those two same things are related_....." he muttered. He stood up, letting Raisei who was resting against his shoulder suddenly fell off from the seat and hit his head against the table. "However, this matter only affected my workplace and a handful of people so I shouldn't over-diluted this meeting with another problem here...."

"You helped us tremendously with that info you gave us though, Mr. Iwao...." I replied back. "If there is any way to do so, I would really want to return the favor because this is the most we get from anyone we had so far worked with...."

"....... Really...." he crossed his arms against his chest. " _ **Then I would love for you to stop this self-sacrifice bullshit even as an Ultimate they made you up to be**_...."

"E-Excuse me.....?"

"You heard me..." He repeated. "I had enough of people thinking it's a valiant act, _despair or not_ , it's not always a sensible answer. If there's anything I can tell you right now, _with your recognized talent_ , _**value yourself more**_.... _that's the best damn thing you can appreciate in life for once_...."

".... I will keep that in mind...." He really stressed it enough, how it really meant a lot to him to say it out loud.

I wonder.... _what happened back then to make him say that?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a lot of things cut out from this story and most of them are just vulgar things from Iwao and Raisei, which said a lot about them.


	21. XX. Old Ensemble Act III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the help of the older investigator, the luckster managed to reach the conclusion.... before it ends.

" _You look like you're in a good mood_...."

"Is that so? What gives it away?"

He's been humming and smiling to himself since this morning, and to point those two things out loud would only be brought down with a _'Is it weird to do so without a reason?' ,_ if he doesn't want to admit it.

And so I just play along with his musings, "I've been taking lesson from _Makkun_..... the air around you changes slightly into something electrifying... like it's some intense emotion that you're expressing here...."

"I can't believe I'm hearing someone actually taking _Makkun's_ advice by heart...." he commented. "But to answer your question.. Biki, Mitsun and I had a good time yesterday, enjoying our spree at a nearby mall. The girls also has the greatest advantage in having me around, _leaving all the persistent shopkeepers trembling in their boots_....!"

" _Don't pick on people outside the academy_...." I warned him. "With your sisters and all, don't you think you should be more careful in the public's eye more than ever?"

"They rarely talk about our private life now so most people might have forgotten about me already...." Machi reasoned. "For now, I'm no longer living under my sister's spotlight but as a normal everyday student..."

"You're also a professional librarian who handled more than tens of them all over the region...." I added. "You even saved them from closing so don't forget to boast about those things more..."

"Right, right... I have a lot on my plate to proved myself worthy..." he chuckles. "You seemed to be joining in the appraisal right now? Are you standing-in for teacher to assess your own classmates?"

"No....." the moment he mentioned the psychologist, my mood suddenly went down. _Damn, now I'm the one who's feeling it again_. "Really... has no one ever heard from them....?"

" _You can't rush grief_...." the librarian crossed his arms, leaning against the cabinet as he said. "It's too sudden as well so they might have to made last minute arrangements for his family's funeral...."

"... _That could be it_...." I reluctantly agreed to his words. "I'm getting really worried about Shino... even Myou-chan's been feeling restless lately...."

The cat, that the investigator adopted from Hinako last year, has been wandering around the apartment searching for their owner. To the point that they willingly slept by my side just to find some company that night.

"Worry not.... it might be something not worth overthinking about it... she always came back safe before so this time, it's no different-"

" _ **Applaud my entrance!!**_ " The door to the student council room was suddenly swung open, still broken and hanging onto the wall by a mere bolt. This time, we only flinched by that loud, booming voice echoed in the room. "I have arrived to perform my task as your substitute instructor!!"

Just when I talked about him two days ago, the physician entered the room, ignoring all the bewildered gazes focused on him, "Wow, you guys settled in reaaaal nicely!! Acting like adults now, huh!"

" _Nishida Fuji_...." I forgot how dramatic this Ultimate Physician is. "You know that door is still broken, right? We haven't got the replacement for it yet..."

"Oh please, I was expecting that crappy thing to get busted down sooner or later anyways!! Enough caring about inanimate things! They have no life breathe into them!" Fuji exclaimed. "I'm here to see if the Yokoda child have made its place here!"

" _Oh wow, I feel so important_...." my bored tone didn't fazed him.

"Not as important as the future of beauty here!! You're looking all chipper and dapper now that you have been upgraded by a year!!" the physician pinched the librarian's cheek. "Careful not to get any wrinkles while working hard here!"

" _ **I will throw you out of the window**_...." Machi threatened him.

"I will hand you that opportunity very soon!" Fuji lets go of him. "But I wanna have a talk with Mr. Oshiro here! Since he's Mrs. Hoshino's right-hand man, I figured he would passed the message to her!!"

"Didn't you have her phone number?" I asked.

"I did! But I got blocked the moment we exchanged numbers!!"

 _I really can't blame Sumire here, this parrot really is annoying_.

"Well then, since I'm not needed, I will be taking my leave...." the librarian turned to faced me. "Eii-chan, do call me if you needed me to escort this annoying human blow-horn out of this room.... _or better yet his entire existence_....."

"You may go, Macchan....." as the librarian left the room, attempting to close the now broken-down door, I made sure there's enough distance for me to start asking, " _Why are you here, Fuji-san?_ "

"Oho? I'm being detested already?" Fuji smiled, placing his hand on his hip. "I'm here just to check on your progress as vice-president. Are you suggesting that there's more to my visit here?"

"Usually, you don't care about these minor things....." I pointed out. "So I do have a fair amount of suspicions that you would actually show up to make some efforts for your students...."

"Hahaha!! I'm guilty for being vain and a sloth!!" He admitted way too quickly. "I don't want to complicate our relationship more than before so basically yes, I'm here for something else!"

" _Which is...?_ "

"News from the counselor herself regarding the case...." he continued, ".... _she would no longer need you, Shoma and Renma's services any longer!!_ "

" _ **What**?!_" I immediately stood up, knocking over the chair as I did. "What does she mean by that!?"

" _It means what it exactly means!!_ " the physician repeated himself. "Ms. Koyasu doesn't want any of her students or instructors to get involved any longer so she's taking you three out of the case and possibly pulling the plug on it as well!"

"She's planning to abandoned the case altogether....? W-Why...?"

" _We're getting on someone's nerve right now_...." Fuji said. "It's dangerous to provoke such a ferocious beast, we couldn't even predict their next move that well either. However, there are matters regarding Ms. Hoshino and Hisa-chan.... but for now, they're our least concern!"

"..... _What are you_....." I slammed my hand onto the wooden desk as I yelled. "Just whose side are you on exactly!? Why would you guys let them off like that!? Do you want them to get hurt next!?"

"Of course not but....." his tone is still controlled. "All of us have things we needed to protect, Eiichi. We can't play the part where heroes need to sacrifice our most important treasure just for the sake of everyone here. _We're dealing with an old empire of the past_ , Oshiro Eiichi, _please understand that_...."

_An old empire of the past._

_The same empire that started the whole **Tragedy** in the first place._

_All because of that one group.... from that academy......_

".... _I knew it_......" I slowly lifted my hand from the desk, resting it by my sides. " _ **You guys were part of The Genesis**_....."

_A group of alumnus from Hope's Peak who helped out during the aftermath of The Tragedy. These three instructor who went missing at first.... were part of **them**._

"..... _Are you upset?_ " he still has a smile on. " _Are you upset that it took you this long to came to that conclusion?_ "

What is he talking about? Of course, I'm fucking upset about it. The fact that I'm being blind about the risks and consequences of involving them in our search without a second thought, _the fact that I forced myself to believe that they're here to only help us out here_.

"But it's rather depressing to say this; I have no intentions to deal with _The Genesis_ nor their plans from the moment they made a name for themselves...." Fuji shrugged. "That's all Ms. Koyasu's deal and she has a thing in treating people like pawns and such. She also feel partially responsible for their creation after all...."

".... What are you trying to get out of here for telling me all of this?" Forgiveness? Because it sure as hell feel like he's finding a reason to redeemed himself here. "I find it hard to forgive someone who said he doesn't want to lose anything..... _**yet still let his dear friend to lose everything instead**_...."

"Ah... I have nothing to defend myself from that statement......" he confessed, chuckling. " _ **But you shouldn't say that so carelessly when you don't know anything yourself**_....."

"W-What...?" I staggered a bit by his sudden malicious aura.

"We've made mistakes before and you're no different yourself...." said the physician. "Like I've said before, I came here to check if you're getting comfortable here and you actually are. _Must be nice having such a amazing safe space all to yourselves when your other comrades are out there could be dealing with the enemies themselves_...."

"I'm here _because of you three_...." I argued, I don't want to believe that those two people would recklessly went and investigate _The Genesis_ all by themselves. "It's the most I can do while they focused on other important matters....."

"..... I see... so you're just an extra in their plan, must have been a downer to find out that's all you are to them....."

".... You know the cameras here are still on here, right?" No longer would I need my jammer device for this, now I have proof from my side. "What happened if _The Genesis_ found out you ratted them out?"

"Oh, they no longer need to worry about the three of us for now....." the physician smiled. "We are an indirect cause after all. But... I'm sure this moment will be a very useful material for _that person_ to decide next...."

"What does that-"

"Whoops, can't stay here all day chatting now!! I still have students to teach!!" he made his way out of the room as he waved. "Better get going before I get complains about my tardiness!! See ya'!!"

"W-Wai-!!" _He's already gone_. It took me a long time to register the silence in the room before collapsing back into my seat, ' _..... All of that for what? I cornered the cause but those two went for the bigger one already.... Even if I report them that, would they still care...? Not when they finally got to those people.... while I was just standing around, idling, waiting for a move or something...._ '

......

' _What is my purpose here actually...?_ ' I rested my head on the wooden desk, burying deeper into my arms. ' _.... Nara's not here.... Teacher and Shino are away....those three are nothing but false leads...... **I'm alone again**....._'

" _Shino_..... _Nara_......."

......

.................

......

_Somehow... it feels like I'm floating...? Am I dreaming..? Did I fell asleep or something? What time is it...?_

My head's facing the hallways windows and just from the view, I can already see the orange sunset, ' _Ah.... evening time already...... wait, evening!? And why am I in the hallway-!?_ '

"Who's carrying me!?" carefully, I lifted my head up to see the person responsible for bringing me out here. I calmed down once I saw who it is, "T-Taiga....?"

"Ah! Ya' woke up at last!!" the marksman remarked. He then asked if I'm awake enough to be able to walk on my own, in which I nodded as a reply. Taiga let me down as he stretches out his arms from giving me a piggyback ride, "You made us a little worry there!! We thought you really passed out from overworking yourself!!"

"We....?" I looked behind to see Hibiki and Machi with us as well. "You two...?"

"What did I tell you before...." Machi sighed. "A week in and you've already made an unsightly sight for your juniors. They've told us that you fell asleep while working....."

' _Did I....? I didn't do anything after that talk with the physician..... maybe they mistook it as that...._ ' "Got... dizzy after being lectured by that instructor....." I told them. ".. Yeah, it's a bad combination to get the work done......"

"We got worried when one of our juniors told us that... you didn't even respond back when they're trying to call you..." said Hibiki. "Is everything really okay? You've been out of it for the past few days...."

'... _I'm... not really okay here.... I'm getting thrown around no matter who I'm talking to.... the only time I thought I could trust someone... only ended up them showing off their true fangs..... I'm getting tired of it already_....'

"W-Whoa!? Eii-chan!?"

Why are they looking at me like that? _With their shocked faces_. Before I could even say anything, I felt something running down my cheeks, ' _H-Huh? I'm actually crying...?_ ' I furiously wiped them away, "S-Sorry, something just came over me and-"

" _What did that man said to you!?_ " The librarian grabbed me by my shoulders. "Did he hurt you!? Or did some obscenely things!? Tell me so that _Makkun_ and I will sought through his punishment in hell!!"

"E-Easy there, _Macchan_...." Hibiki eased him down before she asked me. "Eii-chan, what's wrong? It's been a week since you've been acting like this and we're getting all worried about you...."

' _Ahhh... I even make them uneasy.... typical of me....._ ' What can I even say now? That our instructors are the causes of Nara's condition and possibly Sumire soon that would just outed myself being nothing but some sort of impostor? _No one would like to hear that_.

"..... _I'm just afraid that Shino would ended up in Nara's place_....." I tried to bring myself to say it, a different thing that I'm afraid of. "Thing has been getting really dangerous lately.... the academy festival, Nara and teacher's family..... now with teacher and Shino who disappeared without anyone knowing.... what if it happened again and we didn't realized it...?"

Nara's lucky... _and there's no way that same luck would applied to Sumire and Hisao this time_.

"Oh... _so even Eii-chan's having the same doubts here_...." Taiga muttered under his breath. "Even though he's the one giving us that encouragement talk last time...."

"It really didn't last long....." I sighed. "Thought that by fooling myself, it will be alright.... it's kind of bullshit now that I thought about it more...."

"What... it's just that?" the librarian patted my head as he shook his. "Geez, you made us worried for nothing.... I thought something serious has happened and I have to punish someone...."

" _You're still a student here_....." the opera singer reminded the student council's secretary. "Eii-chan, you don't have to keep it to yourself.... all of us are really worried about them.... but I understand why would you think about it that way...."

"As much as I like keeping people dense regarding themselves.... _you and Sumi are really close after all_...." Machi added. "It's only natural that you will ended up holding the guilt here..... no matter how many times you complained about her attitude towards you....."

"H-Holding the guilt?"

"Don't make me repeat myself here again. _I will pinch your cheek till it becomes longer than your whole body!_ " Machi placed both his hands on his hip. "Didn't you also complained about it last time? During _Tanabata_? That you knew less about Sumi? Right as you guys gotten along perfectly, you're starting to feel a lot more lonely now that she's not around...."

I did remember that but.... _could really half of my worries be just that?_ While it's still too arbitrary, I can make it out as just something I haven't consider it. "It could be..... but there's no way I'm that desperate-"

" _There's really never a single day where you don't at least talked about her whims, Eii-chan_...." Taiga awkwardly laughs. "Guess I'm not the only whose weak point is clearly showing here!! No worries, Eii-chan, we, together, can cover all of it up to so that we would have a good defense!"

".... _**Hah**?_"

"Lately I'm becoming more of a translator for this class, seriously...." Hibiki stepped in. " _Chin up_ , he says, as long as you count on others to share your worries with.... you wouldn't be the only one holding all the burden. _You're not alone, Eii-chan, you still have us to count on_...."

".... Yeah... I guess you're right...." 

I shouldn't forget the bonds and effort I made befriending all of them. Even though it's just for a short while, I'm grateful to have met them all, to consider them my friends even.

.....

.........

_**Why.... did that thought felt foreign to me in the first place?** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- claps -  
> Eiichi realized he has a thing called 'emotions' now


	22. XXI. Toyhouse Act I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the spring went and gone, the troubling summer has finally begun.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to 'All Hurt No Comfort' chapter arc.  
> Population; me, the sole reason behind all this mess.
> 
> I've also made a [poll](https://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?p=5ec7928de4b018b4d5fdec0c) because I'm curious to know everyone's fav character (so I can shame y'all)
> 
> Updates will be posted on [twitter](https://twitter.com/dr_mdst)! So give a follow if you want some heads-up or updates on the next chapter or project!!

" _It's our duty to work from the shadow, invisible in the outsider's eyes. Making close ties are useless, we will cut them off when the job's done. Erasing them from your memories wouldn't be a problem if you care less about them_...."

That's what the spymaster told me once they took me in.

Back when I was a wandering, useless child, a sore-eye to everyone around me that it's a miracle that the spymaster would even want to spare a glance at me. And so to not make them regret that meeting, I worked twice as hard to be the _Ultimate Spy_.

But no matter how much they praised me or how diligent I forced my hands to be.... _it always feel **unfulfilling** to me_.

I should be satisfied with how things are going now, I shouldn't be too bothered when things have gone awry for a moment there. Sumire and Hisao are dealing with them directly, they have them in their grasp, everything's under their control still.....

So _....._ **why am I being so ungrateful about it** _? Why do I have this thought...?_

_..........._

"...Eii-chan, _wake up_...."

"Seriously, you're spacing out again?" Higura placed down his pen as he flicked my forehead. "Heeey, is there anyone there!? This is a veeeery important meeting for you numbskulls in there!!"

"Ow-!!" I looked up right in time for the graphic designer to do his thing, covering up the sore spot on my forehead. "Hey, I'm actually listening here...." Higura and Homare met up with me in the student council room to discuss matters about their respective companies. With the school currently in another festive summer mood, a lot of Ultimate students are looking to partner up with them.

"As a summary, we will limit our resources to only three students this time...." Homare stated. "We don't want to be seen leeching off other students' successes and for them to be accused of defending for our honor in return...."

"Tabloids have been getting shitty and shrewd now that we're close to graduating...." Higura sighed in annoyance. "As much as I would like to shove non-conspicuous truths into their asshole, they might just enjoy that instead...."

"I, unfortunately, have the same thought..." the fencer agreed. "I hope all of this would suffice as our reasoning, in place of our parents _who should be the one seeing you instead of us_...."

"I don't mind a stand-in..." I gave my answer while trying to ease the stressed-out treasurer. "A simple answer is enough. There's no need to be professional since it's only Machi and I handling the student proposals now...."

It has been like that for a few months already; while Machi and Homare, herself, have been strict with the students' application and funds needed for their booths, I was deemed a bit kinder to them and much more likely to accept their proposal with some limitations.

"We've been getting fewer of them lately...." Homare remarked. "Almost 70% of the proposals were given by the seniors as if the newer ones aren't trying at all...."

"That's what you get when everything's fixed, they easily lose motivation like the sloths they are......" said the graphic designer. "Luckily, Machi and Hinako punished the class-skippers the other day and _they will never get away with that shit again_....."

"More like they will never forget what just happened to them....." I added, remembering how Hinako's punishment involved the tiger and bear who stayed by her side during the first year. "Anyways, if that's all, then we can dismiss this meeting....."

"Well, guess who's being professional here...."

"Says the person who dislikes business talks..."

"Argh, fuck....." Higura grumbled. "Can't be helped at all.... they're busy with some paparazzi shit to clear their names so I'm just gotta be their talk-piece for a while. As long as I don't have to deal with scummy journalists and their cameras, then I'm fine with speaking my mind off...."

"Don't push yourself too hard, Hirarin...." ' _Especially after that incident in the past...._ '

"Spare that pity for the poor sap who needs to suck it all up...." Higura stuck his nose up. "I can handle it well enough to not fu-"

"Okay! That's enough, your profanity limit has been reached!" Homare covered up the other's mouth before he could complete his sentence. "You need to maintained your image still, even outside your father's company. Also, we're getting late for lessons so we will be seeing you off, Eiichi. Excuse us!!"

"Take care, you two....." _At least she's more assertive towards this foul-mouthed_ _designer_.

I watched as the Homare dragged Higura away who's still struggling to say something and fighting back to get the hand off of his mouth. Waiting until both of them truly left the area, I slumped backwards into my seat, ".... It's calming down for now....."

Whereabouts of Sumire and Hisao are still unknown and Investigator Iwao has another issue coming up; something related to the rumor about his workplace that intensified over a month. He said he found out who it is but he doesn't want to make it known yet, _especially when the academy's still in a tight spot_.

 _'Doesn't that mean the culprit is related to the academy...? Then, there could only be one....'_ After ensuring all work's done and there's none left, I get up and left the student council room locked, going back to my classroom as usual. ' _ **Ohori Haru** , the **Former Ultimate Journalist**_...... _if the three instructors are involved in The Genesis' plan, then her being the sole reason why those rumors articulated in the first place makes sense. In order to stop others snooping into their deal, they purposely stir up the storm to distract them. Geez, what a cowardly act..._ '

_The Four Instructors of Yumeino Ultimate Academy For The Elites._

Who were supposed to help us that made us overlooked their involvements in the plan. _No, I was being too narrow-minded_. I let them took control and that's it. That's the fault there.

'... _I should stop self-deprecating myself here_....' I shook my head, getting rid of all those negative thoughts. ' _If Shino's here, she would say, "Should have seen that coming, you're a slow person after all...."._ _Actually, she would really just scold me for being annoying and wasting time instead_....'

For now, I just _hope_ that we will be able to get behind of everything, the whole plan that _The Genesis_ is trying to make here, with the help of Investigator _Hoshino Iwao_ and, surprisingly, a Yakuza Leader, _Hanabusa Raisei_.

As I finally felt the burden lifted off of my shoulders, from afar, I can see two figures approaching my way, _two very familiar figures_ , " _Shou-chan? Makkun..?_ "

"Good to see you.....!" Shoma's floaty speech immediately brightens up my mood. It's hard to feel down whenever you hear his laid-back voice. "This critter just returned from his voyage and picked up the remains of our companion, the ghost fish, on their way here...!"

"Back from your research...." A surprise expedition that was given to him a month ago but he happily accept any requests that will bring him closer to any body of water. _I have no idea why the medium's the one passed out here though_. "And Makkun is....?"

"When this critter was greeted at the foyer.... the ghost fish's already sleeping at its place...." Shoma explained in his own way. "This critter carried the ghost fish to show off Eii-chan his bait..!! Perhaps this critter will bring the ghost fish to befriend other critter friends...!"

"That's nice but even sea creatures will be appall for their life if Makkun became the bait....." the medium twitched at that statement, _so he's still alive_. "If you're going to sleep for good this time then give me instructions first to communicate you from the other side...."

"Forgive my unsightly appearance.... I have overexerted myself mentally....." Renma managed to speak up slowly, with his arm slung over the marine biologist. "There's.... a strong force... surrounding the school... that I have.... to cleanse....."

"The ghost fish's speech is getting slower......"

"Yeah, I think that's enough...." Renma's physically weak as well and with both things failing him at once, he will automatically get into critical condition. "Better get him to infirmary so that he could rest.... we can tell the instructor later that he's not well...."

"Aha... Eiichi's..... kind...." the medium could barely chuckle. "Here.... a hug.... as gratitude....."

"Hey, I don't want to catch your sickness....." too late, I got caught in his grasp as he clasped onto tightly for someone who said to be weak. "C-Come on, you're making us la-"

" _Nao and Amane are behind the academy walls right now_....." Renma gotten close enough to whisper that into my ear. He must have done it so that Shoma wouldn't hear it. ".... _That little ghost has been harboring secrets_....."

Just like that, he was pulled away by Shoma. "Troublesome ghost fish... don't cause harm to other critters....! This critter will transport them to the house of nursing.... does Eii-chan want to follow along?"

"You guys can go ahead, I still have some student council work to do....." I excused myself and grateful that Shoma just accepted it. Sending a nod to the medium's direction, the three of us went to our separated ways.

I will have to thank Renma someday, I did asked him for the impossible here...

 _Keeping an eye on a certain pestering ghost_.

* * *

Nao has been someone I'm uncertain about since our school year started. Timid, shy and easily missed due to her small stature, there's nothing about her that really intrigued anyone or even think she's special in anyway. But ever since _Tsukimi_ , she suddenly has this.... _unsettling development_.

' _I can't say that she became more outgoing.... it's too high of a jump for her to suddenly be that sociable_....' other people might see it as a welcoming change, it just doesn't make sense for her to change that much.

I always dislike her personality so part of my distrustful nature towards her might be because of that and I could easily dismiss it as that..... if it weren't for _Sumire who warned me to look out for her._

_'There are lesser student roaming around the back of the academy....'_ After some _ghostly_ _rumor_ being spread around by a _spiritualistic student_ , the juniors became terrified of going alone to the back or even in the forest where shrine resided. Apparently from their knowledge, there are a bit of history regarding the land that the academy claimed (but that's a whole different story to tell) _._

And that certain story helped a lot in mystifying the rumors, making it more believable for them.

' _I hear them_....' Carefully, I made sure I didn't step on anything that could make a noise. Still far, but I don't want to interrupt them just yet, I need to gather enough information before I could show myself.

"... _Your aid is ridiculously unnecessary_...." I can hear Amane's usual stern voice. A tone that we became familiar with whenever he starts to criticize anything. "Art, music and other creative fields are entirely personal tastes. To force others to see our vision is nothing but treachery to all hardworking artists out there that could barely receive that recognition."

"But it will help you out tremendously!!" Nao's turn, sounding too erratic here. "I heard you're under-fire by other critics that you're not familiar with!! Doesn't that make your hard-work a waste to be judged by some unknown people instead? They make other people deterred from your amazing work!!"

"The only people that I'm willing to listen to are those with actual musical knowledge, not some ordinary citizens who has the audacity to judge creative fields without any experience...." said Amane. "It's no different than wildly throwing a dart on a blank concrete wall without a goal....."

"Hahaha, Amane, you haven't changed at all...." Nao laughed. "Despite your silver tongue, you're still stingy when it comes to criticisms! Are you sure about that though? Doesn't it make you irritated that those statements are getting more attention the acceptable ones?"

 _'What is Nao talking about?'_ Is it about the rumors related to Amane? Other than those two business tycoon heirs, Amane has one regarding his work as well. ' _I didn't look too into it since he can handle them better now.... but what does she mean by helping him? What does that has anything to-_ '

"It's human nature to notice what they perceived as garbage first than the exquisite ones...." the composer replied. "It will take a ridiculously long time to see their mistake but one day they will take theirs words back....."

"I can actually help you with that now!" Nao suggested. "I will make a bunch of positive reports of your work to help and boost your popularity!! _It is my specialty after all!_ "

' _Spe-Specialty._.. _?_ ' My eyes widened at what she said. ' _Why would her specialty be.... making bunch of fictitious lies...?_ '

"What are you saying, Ishimoto?" Amane demanded. "Have you gone blind? Or is the thought of helping your comrade out using such a cowardly method doesn't seem immoral to you?"

"To tell you the truth, Sekiguchi, I've... _always envied when people shine better than I do, even as equal Ultimates_....." Nao started, the same clouded gaze from before just freezes me in my place. "No matter what I do, I will always behind everyone, _unnoticed and an unknown_. _But I can never hate anyone for it_. Whenever I see you all do your best with your talents, it's mesmerizing, beautiful even! It brought me to tears that I could witnessed everyone's talents myself..... _ **I want to preserve that**_...."

"Preserve...?" Amane and I said it at the same time. Even though it would blew my cover, _I could care less about it now_. It's the composer's turn to ask now, "Why is that? What's so great about it that you would willingly lie?"

" _I want to be useful with my talent, that's all_....." Nao eerily smiled. "And I want people to see more of your talent that would inspire them as well!! And I want nothing to taint those wonderful talents, there's a lot of people like who have yet to witness its beauty!! I'm willing to bring down a few more people just to make you all shine more in exchange!! I did the same for our other classmate-"

 _Classmate..!?_ " _Who is it?_ "

Both of them turned around just in time to see me emerged from my hiding spot. I don't feel like hiding about it anymore, I'm just.... _livid right now_. "I'm not gonna repeat it again, _**Nao**_.... _ **Who. Did. You. Lie. About?**_ "

"Eiichi....?" Amane's eyes widened. "How long did you....?"

"Oh, I didn't expect our secret meeting to be caught like this...." the ghostwriter gasped, she giggles still in her own predicament. "Especially by the vice president of student council even, guess my own secret business has been exposed unfortunately...."

"Stop screwing around, Nao...." I gritted my teeth, annoyed by her playfulness instead. "If I heard you correctly, you would purposely make a bunch of fake reports just to bring out the good of your other close _Ultimates_. _ **However**_.... if you clearly have the skills to do that... _then would it be far-fetched to assumed you can even write bad ones for other Ultimates as well?_ "

"Not at all!" Nao admitted. "A few negative statements can make a person stronger with developing their talent so I have no problems in being cruel and slaughter them with my words. It's much more romantic to see them better themselves to prove others wrong!! _Much more higher potential to make shine even more!_ "

" _ **Then were the rumors about Amane, Higura, Homare and Sumire were your doing as well?**_ "

_Silent_. Amane, who would usually let out a long and obnoxious speech about himself to fill it, stayed quiet this time. _He just knew now it's not the time to let the mood lighten up_. This... _is our inner turmoil he's witnessing here_.

"Ah, I really got caught in my own trap even...." Nao confessed. "You really lured me into that, Eii-chan!! Just like what Sumi would do!! You really took after her!!"

".... _Does that suppose to make me feel better?_ " I asked her, full of venom and spite, forcing her to answer every single doubts I have towards her. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused to those people? That you directly disrupt their lives with meaningless feuds between them and others? _How could you still be smiling after all of that!?_ "

"Is there any other reasons why I shouldn't smile?" the ghostwriter twirled around, facing away from us with her tone still maintain its cheerfulness. "Those four are the strongest forces of our class. The shining beacon of hope others would see them as! A _prosperous_ , _melodic_ and _serene life_ they would provide to our life. But lately.... they're _**dimming**_.... _ **their everything is dimming**_...."

She then twirled once more with a more serious face, "I don't want that. I don't want them to grow stagnant, dull and muddy to be looked at...... _ **it's disgusting**_. They're getting easy to be taken over and _**the cycle will continue**_...."

"What cycle...?" that question got ignored instead.

" _ **It's a waste**_...... the new generation of hope, created after _**that tragic event**_ , have became stagnant and would amount to nothing compared to the past....! I won't accept that!! Where everyone would lag behind and rot instead....!!" she let out her frustration. "We will only became the extension of what happened... of what supposed to end years ago...."

"We're the ark that brings them to the future hope.... and yet we're here, rotting our talents away. Which is why I'm trying to bring out the best out of everyone!! I'm willing to work with anyone so long as they can stand on top, to be seen and recognized. This is my specialty......."

"... _My public execution of all rotten Ultimates!_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- points at Nao -   
> Hey look, it's Nao's personality that was supposed to be shown in the main story but I'm too "????? should I????" to add back then so when the 1st anni of this whole thing happened, I will have fun rewriting the whole main story just so each charas actually stay true to their personality (especially Machi and Nao)
> 
> In The Words Of This Project; "Leave No Chara Un-hated"


	23. XXII. Toyhouse Act II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Turmoil after turmoil, it will never ease down...."

There was a phrase that goes like this; _'When you resent someone so much that even the mere sight of their hair strand is enough to make your blood boil....'_ or something similar to that.

I'm not one to give myself into resentment that much. It's against everything I was taught to be, never get your feelings overwhelmed your entire purpose. However, this..... _I hate making exceptions so I'm making this the last one._

" _Public execution of the Ultimates_....."

Why does that sound too similar to the _**Ultimate Hunt**_ that Sumire was talking about? Similar to what _The Genesis_ have been planning? Is Nao... _part of it somehow?_

"W-What is this nonsense you two keep talking about?" Amane demanded, clearly confused by the sudden tension between the two of us. "And Eiichi, why are you being too serious about those ridiculous rumors? It has nothing to do with you!"

"Because, Sekiguchi, it's a classic _'friend-helps-friend'_ scenario!!" Nao answered his question instead. "I know it's hard for you to understand since you rarely have any!"

" _E-Excuse me!?_ " He got ignored.

"But Eiichi is that classic friend who's trying to help everyone!!" the ghostwriter continued. "It's a role he keeps on giving off and playing in the first place!!"

.... Does she know about my true talent? _No, there's no way she would even knew about that specifically_ , "They do more harm than good..... _whatever you're trying to push on others_ , it's a hindrance so I want you to stop with that bullshit..."

"I already stop my tracks a long time ago, the rumors that's been going around lately are just the by-products of my reports...." Nao explained. "Took them a while but they at least got them running around!! The media works wonder if you gave them the right material to talk about!! And just like they just have to deal with the consequences and learn to grow from it!!"

"What exactly are you getting out of this mess?" I don't understand her vision. She made all those lies... _just to see us move on from it?_ "Even if there's people who can ignore it, there are others who can't turn a blind-eye to it. If they get bombarded by all those disgraceful things you piled onto them, _they will surely break_...."

"Like I've said before, _I wanted to get rid of all rotten Ultimates_...." Nao grinned. "The weaklings should just fall away from the chain and let the stronger ones bring us forth to the future. It's not nice of them to leech off other people' successes, _even if they're also Ultimate students_. Hope's Peak have gotten a few share of them last time!!"

The expelled students last year, the news we've heard about during _Christmas' Eve_. "You're part of that as well...? You must be joking...."

"Please don't underestimate my abilities, I may be close to become a weakling like them but my talents are superb-level!!" Nao boasted. "My lowly recognized presence is just a bonus that I could use to go around some things!!"

Every time she shoots down my questions, she does it like it meant nothing to her. Still cheerful and smiling, with an answer that boils down to only; _'It's no longer my problem, deal with it yourself'_ , it's infuriating. What's worst is that it still stunned me whenever she answered them normally.

I'm guilty in admitting it; I can handle people better whenever I caught them red-handed, it's easier to make them confessed when they keep on profusely denying it. _It just gives me enough power to expose them without any difficulty_....

Now... _I don't have that confidence in me; I'm the powerless one here._

"I understand your feelings right now...." Nao interrupted my train of thoughts. "You're ashamed of yourself for not catching me sooner, I understand that feeling perfectly!! Being beaten down by a minor inconvenience in your life would put anyone in a terrible mood! Especially by a person who's the epitome of misery!!"

" _Enough of this foolery!!!_ " Amane stepped in. "I may have no part in this ordeal between you two but I've listened to enough disgraceful words by such a despicable human!! _Ishimoto Nao_ , if we take what you've said as the truth then there should be no consequences for us to turn you in now, correct? Unlike the academy, we will not turn away from this damaging matters at all!"

"Ah, so you're going to stand up for Eiichi, huh? Guess your heart did changed that much after a year!!" Nao giggles. "But if you turn me in now, you will be facing _**that person**_ ' _ **s**_ wrath for messing up their plans...."

".... _Who are you talking about?_ "

Who could she be talking about?

Who wanted this to happened?

.....

Unless, _it's_.....

"Judging by your face, you have the perfect guess on who!!" the ghostwriter pointed out. "It's our beloved classmate and student council president who disappeared for almost a few months, _**Hoshino Sumire**_ , the _**Ultimate Private Investigator**!!_"

".... Hey, what are you trying to get here by telling me all of this....?" I asked, _calmly_. "First, you told us you've been trying bring others down and now you're bringing her name and title into this mess..... I had enough with you lying-"

"It's not a lie, all those rumors I've made were requested by Sumi herself...." Nao chuckles. "Or more specifically, _about her and her mentor_. I added others just to make it more believable and that it's not done by the word of a resentful journalist, like the one before me. She caught me but let me continue to defamed her and her mentor-"

" _ **So that's what all of this is about**_...."

Another voice joined in. The three of us turned around to face the intruder, someone whom we didn't noticed was standing there for god knows' how long, " _Yoshimune_...."

A complete stranger overheard all of that, someone who doesn't know the whole story from the inside.

"Taiga, why are you here?" I tried to salvage the situation right now. There are small chances of him just arrived and just heard that last line from Nao but his expressionless face made it hard to confirm that. "Were you looking for us? We will be with you shortly-"

"I was but I can't help but hearing something.... _that put my mind in a very terrible place_...." he tore his gaze away from Amane and I. "Nao... all of those things you've said.... was really the truth?"

"Yes, Taiga? I think I repeated that answer plenty of times before already and I'm getting tired of saying the same thing...." she replied without so much of a thought.

"Then I want you to stop all of that if you really don't want us to rat you out...." the marksman approached the ghostwriter with a very dangerous glare and heavy steps. "Whatever Sumi or her mentor are doing, all of that are completely none of your concern. _Stop everything and move away from it_. I don't want our classmates to go against each other. The situation right now has already gotten more difficult than before...."

"Umm... I wanted to say that I can't stop right now but you're looking down on me with such murderous glance...?" the ghostwriter noted. "Even so, I can't be forced to stop by any outsiders so violence isn't really your go-to answer here, Taiga..."

" _ **Who says I wouldn't hit you without a reason?**_ "

" _Yoshimune, **enough**_...." Taiga slight raised his arm before I caught him. His whole body's shaking as if he's been building that pent-up anger inside of him when Nao started confessing about her blackmailing works. ".... It's getting late and if we make others wait even longer for us then all of us will get in trouble. _Let's just go and we will settle this matter some other day_...."

" _Agreed_...."

" _I don't mind_..."

"..... _**Fine**_..."

Taiga's too reluctant to let it slide and as I tried to convinced him even further, he finally accepts the proposal. With Amane and Nao leaving first, as both the marksman and ghostwriter threw a glare at each other as they passed-by, I told Taiga to meet up later at the student council room at evening time, before leaving the academy.

' _What a disaster, getting caught by a passer-by_...' I wasn't mad because of that however, it's some other thing that struck me as odd when the marksman said something to defend both the investigators. ' _The thing that he mentioned before.... there's more to it......_ '

Something else that made him sided with the investigator... despite what Nao said about her being the one behind those reprimand rumors. _And he's not the only one who find it hard to accept those claims_.

* * *

The whole afternoon class went as uneventful as it tried to be. Nao's getting very chatty with the instructors which surprises everyone, except for Amane, Taiga and I. With the lesson flew by quickly, Kiharu and Mitsuru went up to the ghostwriter, teasing her about the sudden change this time. _Which made it harder to approach her_.

The composer doesn't seem to be too bothered by it as he's currently discussing about his next work with Hibiki. However, he must have a change in tone as well judging by how the opera singer looks really unsure with how he's proposing.

As for me, I managed to sneak Taiga out of the classroom while everyone's busy. The marksman tried to maintained his talk with Hiroshi earlier who noticed how uneasy his voice is and that leaves me an opportunity to escort him out of there.

' _I told them that I will take him to the infirmary... so they will definitely go there later to check...._ ' I sent a text to the medium still resting in the said place to make up an excuse for us and Renma replied, still reflecting his manner and speech in just one sentence;

**_Yūreinma_** > [ " _May the spirits eagerly await for your repayment in the near future ^ >^_" ]

' _As eerie as it sounds..... he's being really generous about some payback for a sudden request...._ ' Back at the matter in hand, the marksman nervously twiddling with his thumbs, keeping all his focus in it instead. ' _Argh, what should I do now? If Shino's here, she will surely make me anesthetize the witness as usual but this is our classmate here.... and I don't really know Taiga's health background that well...._ '

And so, I resorted into using our usual interrogations instead, "Just how much of it did you hear just now...?"

"Not much.... just..... _about Sumire_...." Taiga looked away. "And I kind of blacked out for a moment... I thought I passed out or something but I didn't realized I was still moving and breathing.... I completely act purely on instincts...."

" _Instincts...?_ " All of that because of the investigator's involvement? Was the case they've solved in the past made that huge of a impact in his life? "Was this about the case they're investigating in your neighborhood? Did something happened to you back then...?"

".... _The case was about my father and I_...." Taiga just shuts his eyes tight. "..... Because a very spiteful neighbor who wishes to get rid of us for good back then. My father can't defend himself.... he always rely on me to do things that he can't but.... _I was scared_. So scared that we would lose our place because we're nothing but a stain in their eyes.... then one day, Investigator Iwao and Sumire took the case into their hands...."

'.... _And so they saved Taiga and his father from being thrown out into the ditch...... to garner such hatred towards a soldier and his only son just like that...... I know both of them really hate injustice like that_....'

It explains a lot about the marksman's admiration towards both of the investigators; he's grateful to them for rescuing his family out of that situation. ' _Like that.... it almost seems like he's feeling indebted to them as well but I remember Investigator Iwao saying he's not looking for some gratitude from his clients..._ '

"That's why... I got mad when something happened to me in the past.... _also happened to Sumire and her mentor as well_...." there's clear glint of anger in his eyes this time. "It's suffocating.... it's hard having those kind of eyes weighing on you for something you didn't do at all.... call me a _'worry-wat'_ or _'a creep'_ at this point but I just don't want anyone to experience those things ever again...."

He means well but.... I'm not so sure if he caught what Nao said at the end. _The rumors started **because** of Sumire_. She caught onto the ghostwriter spreading them but allowed her to continue. In the end, he's still defending the catalyst of those problems.

' _..... Once I caught wind of her whereabouts.... I'm gonna force answers out of her this time....._ ' At the same time, it will surely break my heart to get rid of Taiga's rose-colored outlook of this entire thing. "Don't worry, I'm gonna make sure Nao would stop her doing so that those rumors will die down soon.... after all, Investigator Iwao has been cracking down to find all of their sources right now....."

_'Wait... didn't he said that the rumors and the case right now.... **are somehow related**...?'_ I recalled back the memories of our secret meeting. His comment about the rumors being written by someone who's behind bars currently can be easily explained _if all of it was done by a certain ghostwriter instead_. And if it's correct, when Nao said she did it because of Sumire then.....

".... _What the hell_...." I cursed. " _What's the hell's going on....?_ "

If it's true then.....

_Why's.... Sumire acting as if she's on The Genesis' side here?_

"Eii-chan, what's wrong? Did you remembered something else...?"

".... Nothing...." I forced a smile. "I just forgot to ask Investigator Iwao something else about the rumors ...." _'And about Shino as well... if he's hesitating to look deep into it because of her possible involvement. He must have recognized it as her doing at some point......'_

".... Guess my awful wish actually came true...." the marksman sighed. "There's a rift now in our class... maybe I shouldn't have butt in so that it could be resolved in a more peaceful way....."

"It would still end in a mess either way...." Internally, I'm really glad Taiga threatened Nao to show how serious it is. She would have gotten away and thought nothing of it afterwards. "The only reason why it _didn't_ end terribly is because I stopped you from getting too far. It would be harder to explain if you actually... _did that_...."

"Ngaaaaah, just when I promised old man that I won't punch anyone again!!" Taiga threw his hands up in frustration. "I even broke my good student image!! I'm ruined for sure!!"

'... _He took his mind off of that really quick_.....' But that's our Taiga for sure, always worrying about other minor things after the big ones. _A guy with a good heart for sure_. "Are you forgetting that I was there? And it's Amane witnessing it as well? I can just lie and Amane don't give two shits about things he's not interested in...."

 _And Nao surely wouldn't want to reveal her secret business like that_.

"R-Really!? You're going to save my image just like that!?" Taiga hurried, grabbing my hands from the other side of the table as he begged. "Eii-chan, please cover me up!! I don't want to get into trouble again!!"

"W-What happened during _Setsubun_ is still your fault...." A certain bloodthirsty tiger shark went wild during the paintball fight as I was told by Shoma. "But only this time, alright? I don't want to get into trouble as well if they caught onto my lies......"

"That shouldn't be a problem though...? It's not like you lied a lot here..." _Oh, the irony behind that_. "If they did then Hiroshi can think of a perfect excuse!! He always used that amazing talent to get out of that kind of situation!!"

" _ **Did you just reveal Hiroshi's tactics to avoid expulsion?**_ "

"..... _Oops_..." Taiga should be glad I've disabled the cameras here. "Besides the point...!! Please and thank you for not reporting my actions to the instructors or Macchan!!"

"Oh, so now you're focusing on the possible expulsion part for the both of you...." Even after a year, he's still being careless about keeping secrets. Alas, I'm not cruel enough, like some certain librarian, to punish them right away, "Roger that.... if I hear one more complaint about you two, _I will send Macchan and Hinako after you and Hiroshi_..."

"A-Are they trained assassins for the academy or something!?"

" _They don't need the academy to train them for something like that_...." The absolute power they hold is too incredible for anyone to believe. With than nonsensical banter over, Taiga's mood improved by tons. I thought by dragging the conversation longer as it turned into mindless blabbering, it would helped took his mind off of it, ' _Don't want him to lose control again like earlier and during Setsubun_.... _he's quite emotional when it comes to negative things_....'

My phone suddenly vibrated against the wooden table as it brought my attention to its presence. Taiga was about to leave the room when I picked it up, ' _I thought I turned it off._ _Who's calling me now....? Renma? No.. he prefers messaging to be more creepy... Shoma as well for those fish emoticons...._ '

I got distracted by Taiga saying something about tomorrow classes that I immediately answered the call without even checking the caller ID. A moment of mindlessness and distraction was what prevented me from expecting the voice from the other side of the call.

" _ **Eiichi**_...."

 _My breath immediately hitched when I heard that voice_.

".... _**Shino**?_"

I should be glad that I'm hearing her voice right now, as a proof that she's alright. But I keep forgetting; this is _Hoshino Sumire, the **Demonic Investigator**_.

She's not some sort of eccentric detective like _Sherlock Holmes_ who would appear one day with answers and good news. If I have to compare her to any characters in Conan Doyle's novels, it would be the detective's arch nemesis, _James Moriarty_. _She's just a half-assed machiavellian character_.

_**And I should have hold my tongue when I answered her call.** _


	24. XXIII. Toyhouse Act III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "And just when you get your answers, you started to doubt yourself..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy, I do love some Existentialism™ in an entire chapter.

Secret meetings between two people who aren't meant to be associated will always be held at a discreet location.; be it a private property, a VIP club or even a private island owned by a real estate agent to prevent massive governmental tracking of their family business _(but that's an entirely different thing to talk about)_.

Very rarely would anyone suggest an abandoned playground, that's almost out of reach from the city, to be the perfect location for one. The reason why, from what I've known of this certain someone's request, is that this place has some sentimental value to her.

Right after a heart-stopping moment that could have declared me dead on the spot, I maintained whatever level of consciousness I still have within me to hear Sumire out. She's calm as per usual when it comes to serious discussion, like she's not rushing things out or anything to meet up.

' _Still a very weird location to choose_...' Makes sense if she wants total seclusion but wouldn't it be more suspicious if it's just two people here. ".... No way, it's not like she's going to kill me here....."

"If I wanted to kill you then I would have chosen any land that's near an ocean or sea to dump a body easily....." _Ah, there it is, a snarky comment that I somehow miss hearing_. "I also heard that you had a meeting with my mentor at a very high-end club so I downgraded my choice of location this time......"

"You think you can't beat your mentor in hospitality?"

"No, I just don't think you deserve that luxury at all for lazing around...."

_Ouch_.

But that's the truth, I've been doing absolutely nothing about the leads we have right now. "Not sure you've heard but we have three massive leads to report back to Hope's Peak currently....."

"Worry not, I've been doing that without even telling you.... don't you realized they haven't bother you about my absence yet?"

"I got my mind stuck in a very difficult place....." Almost three or four months has passed without having a peaceful day at least. My thoughts has been flying all over the place that it's getting harder to concentrate lately. "So... yeah..... _I wasn't doing very well at my part_...."

"Ah, is that so.... poor you, maybe I should have send Ru-chan to watch over you......" She said that but she has that mocking smile on her face. "However, you still make some very impressive findings, from who's behind _The Genesis'_ creation to the entire operation and lastly the scandalous rumors of the _Yumeino Ultimate_ students... well, I can't really attribute that last one to you only....."

"That...!!" My anxiety immediately vanished when she brought that up. "About the rumors that Nao spread ..... is that true? About you who let her went along with it...?"

"Hmmm.... I guess some of it is...." Sumire answered while sitting on top of the crumbling children's slide. "Just about my mentor and I..... I thought about smothering her for being crass but that would be a huge mistake for me to do..."

" _I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking that_...."

"It's all slander, I tell you!! Of course, I would be mad enough to think about it!!" She yelled. "However..... her absurd methods proved to be useful in the end...."

"How....?" Wait, shouldn't I be asking her more important things? "No, not only that. Where have you been? What is this plan of yours that took you so long to come back? Is teacher okay?"

Despite the fact teacher, _Mafuyu Hisao_ the _Former Ultimate Psychologist_ , is related to the culprit like the other three instructors, he still suffered the most out of them, _his entire livelihood was taken from him_. _The other three just left him behind, unscathed_. It's morally wrong for me to even think he deserved it.

"He's managing. I've been by his side making sure he's doing okay....." she replied. "We've just been checking out some hotel to book for some sort of relaxant treatment...."

"Wha- _Excuse me?_ " Did I heard that right? "You guys are on some sort of vacation...? In the midst of this??"

"How rude, don't be so dumbfounded at our sudden urge to relieve some stress...." said the investigator. "It's a luxury hotel, you know? We can't pass this opportunity up...."

.... _Wasn't The Genesis talking about opening a luxury hotel back during Christmas' Eve.... where our graduation will be held?_

"What's this treatment exactly?" I asked, hoping that's where she's leading this conversation at. "Is it only for you two?" That word she suddenly threw in, this _'treatment'_.

"Nope, the other three instructors also want to join us since they want the same thing as well..." she corrected with a smile still. "They said _'why not'_ and I was kind of surprised but I'm not complaining. _It's a very pricey treatment anyways_...."

".... Hey, Shino, what's your plan here exactly?" I had enough beating around the bushes here, _the nerve of this person to act around as if it's nothing_. "For you to have those people in your control.... that you're being really close with our culprit here..... you're not betraying us, are you? _You're not forgetting the cause of Nara's state now, right?_ "

"Now it's your turn to be cruel...." she sighed. "Please be patient, things have been working rather slowly but it's coming together a bit. If you're wondering why you're not getting all the updates then I will ask you this.... _**why are you here?**_ "

"Huh..?" Why is she asking me that of all things? Am I not supposed to know about these things? "What do you mean?"

"You see, I have a thing for blank-slated kind of people...." Sumire explained. "It got me really interested in them, wondering why they would go so far as to erase their past for a very dangerous task, _someone like you for example_. I thoroughly enjoy the idea of being able to draw onto that slate as I picture their previous normal lives....."

"Don't tell me that's the only reason you had Nara and I under your care....?" Just curiosity? So was Iwao's explanation of her protecting us from whatever Hope's Peak and Future Foundation not really true? "Because you want to know more about us?"

" _Didn't you do that same thing to me first?_ " Sumire sharply asked. "I've tried my best to hide everything as shrouded mystery but you managed to dug up everything about me. Not only that but to throw all of the at my face just for the sake of being right, _who's the intrusive one here really?_ "

That's.... during _Setsubun_.

When I figured out the reason behind the strain apprenticeship between her and Investigator Iwao. At that point, _I already overstepped my boundaries_. "Y-You're no different as well... you looked into mine during _Tanabata_...."

"Indeed and for that, _I kept it to myself_....." she answered without a sense of guilt in her voice. "I know the consequences if I told anyone your past, even if I have repressed the anger I felt inside once I read about it.... it truly broke my illusion of the _Ultimate Spy_...."

"Why would you be mad at me... just because of _that_? Are you that petty to be angry over a minor inconvenient thing?"

"Call it a personal preference which _I'm sure you have the answer to already_....." She stood up, looking over the railing as she continued. "You're always looking for answer to everything, especially for those that shouldn't be your main priority. Both of us have equal goal but he only difference is that _one of us will bound to learn something from it_...."

Without letting me to say anything, she jumped down from the slide and made a safe landing. "Say Eii-chan, can you call yourself _heartless_ at this point? One of these days, when we truly solved this case and leave it all behind us, _you will have to leave them as well_...."

 _Our classmates_. The 50th Class of Yumeino Ultimate Academy. Something that only acts as our disguise. "It can't be helped. I'm well-prepared for it...."

"Then let's test that out...." She smiled once more as she crossed her arms, plotting something judging by that gesture. " _ **Kill me now**_....."

" _W-What!?_ "

"You heard me.... I'm giving you permission to kill me now. You wanted to do it when we first met, remember that? Now here's your chance!" she repeated once more. "Get rid of me however you like! Drown me, mince me up 'till there's nothing left!! If you really believe that I'm going to betray everyone then it should be an easy task for you to get rid of loose ends, right!? _Case closed_ , just like that!!"

"There's no way I....." I can't do that. _I.... can't?_ "I.... _**don't want that**_...."

"It's a ' _don't_ ' now? So even in a perfect isolated place, _you don't have it in you to mercilessly kill someone without a problem_....." the investigator sighed. "Yup, I need to take back that statement right now, _**that's**_ already the problem here....."

"S-Stop screwing around!" I shouted at her. "You're asking an impossible thing here! Do you really think I would just do it without a thought!? Even I know how ridiculous that request is!!"

"Is it impossible just because of convenience' sake or _there's something within you that's preventing that?_ "

.......

I can't answer. _I absolutely cannot answer that with ease._

"That's the problem I've talked about. _You learned too much about the people you've surrounded yourself with_....." she went on, leaning behind that bar for support. "I gave you a perfect chance to get rid of a ' _would-be betrayer_ ' yet you won't act on it. I was rooting for you but it seems you've already grown humane enough to think of me like that....."

" _Humane_....?"

"Spies can be really heartless. They became everyone's best friend in order to complete their mission at hand and once they're done, they discarded everything, even the people they've befriended for a long time already....." she eyed at me, _emotionless eyes that just stunned me like that_. "If they wanted to be more secretive, they can get rid of them to prevent getting exposed. Due to that bothersome suggestion, they forced themselves not to have a heart at all.... _but you ended up failing that, right?"_

I've known our classmate for only a year and yet.... _I already knew a lot about them_. Their hobbies, families and even favorites, something that makes them _humane_.

"You've evolved from being a blank-slate into a curious human...." Sumire noted. "You're letting this _Oshiro Eiichi_ become your true identity. _You let a lie you're living currently as to become the truth you wanted to live in_. Am I wrong? If not then there must be other explanation for that bit of humanity you still have....."

".... What's the use of telling me all of this?" I tried to work up the courage to talk back. I don't want to be the weak one here. "I got carried away by everyone else but... is it really wrong of me to think like that?"

"See it as a payback from before but in my eyes, _not really_....." the investigator chuckles as she leaned forward, teasing me instead. "I think it's beautiful that you're being showered with love from our dear classmates. It's something you've never had before, right? _A wonderful thing to have people care a lot about you_. Say, Eiichi, if you're that committed in being the _Ultimate Spy_ , _do you think they wouldn't look for you if you went missing?_ "

She's.... still testing my loyalty as a spy...? Why is she forcing me to answer all these questions? Is this part of her plan or something? "I'm sure.... they wouldn't notice...."

"Ah, you hesitated a bit, _why is that?_ " That didn't slip-by easily, she caught onto it quickly. "Usually it's an instant, clear-cut answer...."

 _Damn it_ , "I'm not sure....." That's the answer I should have said. _The answer that I don't actually feel ashamed of saying_. "I don't know what would they do if I really disappear... I didn't even think of it as a possible thing...."

"Just as you learned a lot about them, _you let them learned a lot about you_...." she suddenly had a eureka moment. "Oh dear, wouldn't that make you a failure of a spy? They learned too much and yet you got too much of a heart that you can't get rid of them......"

I'm... _**trapped**_. No, that's not right. _**She purposely led me into a trap**_. "Did you..... expect me to go through all of this before?"

" _Hook, line and sinker!_ Just as Nao's specialty to spread unanimous lies, I have the power to cast a curse on others that will happened no matter what!!" she wickedly laughed. "I already told you to not trust anyone yet you did just that and roped others into your life. You trust them too much that when Nao revealed her true nature.... you felt that wavering feeling of betrayal, right? _Worry, anger and love_ , receiving all that turmoil even though it's a hindrance for someone with a dangerous job, _someone like you_ , to care for others still....."

......

 _I got tricked_. No, I can't deny it, it's a perfect answer to why she would appear to me that fateful day, _under that **conman** disguise_. _My loyalty for the spymaster was **scammed** out of me_.

"People like you shouldn't be thinking about dying loyalty without even considering their own life and how it will impact others'....." said Sumire. "With the right buttons to push, even a perfect human can have plenty of flaws once we break them down. Believe in whatever you've been telling yourself, you will still end up living an unsatisfied life...."

"..... Then what should I do....?" I almost hesitated in asking that. The investigator did nothing but abolishing my ideals and morals so far, it would have been wise to not even ask for anything else from her. "I clearly have flaws that I needed to get rid of... _but should I really?_ "

"You seemed to be more happier having those so here's a suggestion if the lousy spymaster decided to drop you for being a failure...." she said without skipping a beat, glancing upwards to feel the incoming breeze. " _Continue to live out as Oshiro Eiichi_ , you still have a second chance under that identity....

"Who knows? Maybe you will finally find something worthwhile out of it, something that stays with you, _living with no regrets at all even_. You formed all those connections who would gladly help you out so you wouldn't have a problem at all if you actually go for it..."

Using a disguise that was given to me as an _Ultimate Spy_ , I've met all those different people, those annoying people that actually made me look forward to the next day and the day after that. People I ended up caring about, people who waste their time with an unknown person with problems.

 _I did ended up becoming more humane than I first thought_.

"..... Really, you're such a despicable person...." I finally said something else other than a question for her to answer. Weights that's been on my shoulders before has finally been lifted off now that I reached my answer. "Making me question my own priorities here for god knows' how many hours...."

"You're welcome, it's always a welcoming thing to be despised by....." she snickers. "I'm kind of jealous though, you still have plenty of opportunities to live out different lives thanks to your own ability to hide everything....."

_Jealous...? Why would she be jealous?_

"Well, with my curse done its job perfectly, you can completely take yourself out of this case!!"

"Wha- _What?_ "

" _Huh?_ Huuh? I'm sure you got the memo from that annoying physician already? Or did she actually not tell you three?" she clears her throat as to clarify the thing she's talking about. "You, Shoma and Renma are no longer needed so go ahead and live out the rest of the year as ordinary Ultimate students as much as you can. _Let teacher and I handle everything behind the scene!_ "

"You're dismissing us three.... just like that?" Mr. Nishida's sudden drop-in was part of her plan? _What's actually going on here!?_ "What the hell!? Dropping that important bit right after that-"

"Ahhh, you really don't get it, don't you? I'm running out of energy to explain everything here, Eii-chan! " she let out a sound of frustration. "Listen here, real close this time!! Unlike teacher and I, you three have people to protect! It would be a total waste to have you three be in the same position as those instructors for no gain at all!!"

 _People to protect_. "Then... what about you? It would make perfect sense for those people to be responsible for it..... so why are you including yourself here...? Why are you taking that fault as well?" 

".... I made a deal, you see, with _The Genesis_..... _to show them what **true despair** really is_...." my whole body froze as she said that. _Again with the_ **_despair_**. "Sorry, Eiichi, guess I will still be busy for this year. But if everything goes horribly wrong then I might have time to hang out with everyone else again!!"

.....

Sumire and teacher are facing them alone, as a result they let off Shoma, Renma and I for our safety. And in return, they trapped the other three instructors to punish them for their biggest crime.

.....

That physician said revealing the true root of The Genesis' creation would be a useful material _for someone to use_.

.....

Then, they suddenly dismissed us and dropped the case as told _by a certain someone_.

.....

Somehow... the journalist with the help of Nao's works began spreading bad rumors about the demonic investigator.

...............

**_Everything's pointing towards a bad end for Sumire and Hisao here....._ **

"Ah, crap.... it's getting late already..... too bad, I really wanna have a more mundane talk with you a little longer....." the investigator grumbled. "Until our next secret meeting if I still have the will to do it! But if you ever bring up this case again, _I will take care of you myself_. It would be waste for someone like you to start shit up for something they never have any interest in it at first...."

 _She's seriously throwing us away..._.

"Don't be too upset about it, rejoice instead!! As a newly-found human, you now have a posse to keep you safe! Safe from me, that is!!" she snickers. "Since people expect me to be the cruel demon investigator they so badly want to see..... _ **then I will give them exactly that**_...... If I've learned anything from my time at the orphanage, _**demons are supposed to be irredeemable monsters**_..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to mirror this with Chapter 5 of the main story and I just hurt myself instead because of it.  
> This Is Fine™


	25. XXIV. Toyhouse Act IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "... Now you're back to square one...."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two more story arcs (Cacophony and Encore)!
> 
> ____________
> 
> Reminder for this [poll](https://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?p=5ec7928de4b018b4d5fdec0c) to vote your fav chara just for fun!
> 
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"......"

"Ah, the dwindling energy of oneself is truly contagious. I can sense your mental fatigue from afar. _This poor vessel here will silently grieve for you_...."

"Shut it, Makkun. I'm sobbing here......"

Theatrics aside, I am, _in fact,_ sobbing for real. After being verbally beaten down by Sumire two days ago who just left me like that, I got into a really terrible mood for the rest of the day that I don't feel talking to others.

And of course. there will always be some people who never learn to respect personal space.

"This critter feels deflated as well when the little star refuse to swim with us again....." both Shoma and I have our heads on the table. "Ahh.... this critter is feeling depressed... this critter's sinking into the bottom of the ocean too much.....!"

"Oh dear... I guess I'm the only one who's accustomed to this feeling...." said Renma as he patted both of our heads. "There, there.... the heavy weight will surely be lifted once all's well..... while I have several doubts about the investigator's return, _I do want a stern word with her once she made it out_...."

"If she doesn't then there's no way she will be able to hear that long lecture of yours...."

"Then I will call forth her soul from deepest part of hell to repeat her end all over again..." he smiled cheerfully as he said that. "I've became acquainted to the spirits residing in the * _eight circle_ of that place and no doubt she will have a spot reserved just for her...."

"This critter won't allow that....!!" Shoma struck Renma with a swift karate chop to the throat. "Even the deepest bottom of the ocean is left undisturbed for many years as critters freely lived through it.... don't disturb these critters from their paradise just for ghost fish's gain...!!"

" _T-Those are two very different places for very different purposes, Shoma_...."

"Guys, I know you're trying to make me feel better but Shino made a really clear point by saying ' _I don't need you, go away_ '...." It took me the entire morning session to explained the whole to them of our secret meeting. It's actually that long because I have to explain some parts more thoroughly than the investigator did with hers. "In the end, I got reverted back into a throwaway pup waiting for the next pick-up...."

"Eii-chan always flubbed his words like a sea lion that flapped around when threatened....." And so I finally got compared to a cute animal by the marine biologist. "However the lucky critter is much more valuable than a bunch of nonsensical gestures....!!"

_Wait, is he actually dismissing my grieving state instead?_

"So you're actually imitating him right now, Shoma?"

"This critter received a tip of playing along for the other critters to see their actions more clearly....! As the animal whisperer gave me her wisdom long time ago, it's a method to gain familiar-ship with more wilder critters!!"

_Hinako, which dangerous animal are you trying be friends with this time?_

"Even though this critter doesn't have to initiate it when Eii-chan and this critter are from the same school.... a fruitless attempt is better than none!!"

"In short, we're still here for you if you ever need us, Eiichi...." Renma continued. "Please rely on us and the people from the after-world more...."

_This damned medium and his itch to summon the dead_. "Which reminds me....." I lifted my head up. "What's up with the spirits right now? Heard that you're out for two days?"

"A frightening end with such prosaic words to be my last...." Renma sighed. "On the borderline between life and death, I was given a warning to pass onto the mortal world once I've been treated well... _and so I did unfortunately_..."

"This critter can submerge the ghost fish in the deepest part of the ocean as another way home..."

"Ah, are you mad at me, Shoma? I really don't want this to be another lover's quarrel..."

"Quit the _chuuni_ talk and just say what the spirits trying to warn us about..." I demanded. "Makkun, you can somehow _see_ spirits surrounding other people, right? Something similar to aura or other spiritual stuffs..... what did you see the last time Shino's around?"

"...... It made me dangerously ill immediately...." the medium replied. "The suffocating air of the biologist's house is an exception due to its resident but to have one person harbor such darker atmosphere around them.... _it seems hell forgot to pick up their most prized prisoner_...."

"Hnnngh, the little star fish also treated this critter a lot more colder....." the marine biologist added. "Unlike the era of discovery, us, critters, are now drifting away and swimming through different currents...."

' _.... I remember she told me her time with Shoma's family is one of her best moment... pushing him away like that, now she's really trying to push away her own humanity next...._ '

After all, she said so herself, ' _I'm going to be the Demon Investigator they so badly want to see!_ ' and just like that, she went out of her way to do stuffs against _Future Foundation_ and _Hope's Peak_ ' wishes. Come to think of it, almost everyone in this case has something against those two in reality. Investigator Iwao and Yakuza Leader Raisei have been in hot water about it since their academy days that they're willing to cut them down if they could.

' _Umm.. something about the dirty jobs Iwao took when he was a student there.... a committee at Hope's Peak threatened to spill those details to a bunch of journalists just to stop him but Mr. Rai managed to keep their mouth shut...._ ' Some of the details from that night, when the three of us gathered for the first time, were all blabbered by the drunken yakuza and the investigator who's trying to hold himself back from starting another fight.

' _Muddy stuffs but it turns out Iwao himself was actually not that popular back then, being labelled as the bad apple in society.... to the point Mr. Rai would say "Having him on your side is like trying to predict an incoming typhoon instead"..._ '

After recollecting all those facts, I'm now in complete awe on why any of these people would still wanna associate with something they hate with great passion. _Still, they must have gone through this with spite._

"..... Somehow..." Renma started. "I'm starting to feel another disturbing energy but weaker this time...... _it's a familiar presence_....."

"Familiar....? Did our school of classmates came by to visit us in the sea lion's domain....?"

"No way, they're busy with the _Bon Festival's_ preparation and their hands are full with those juniors-"

_**BAM!!** _

__

"Soooorry for the intrusion!!" a voice we haven't heard for so long suddenly made its presence in the room. If it weren't for that, I would have scolded instantly, thinking it was the meddling physician instead.

Both Shoma and Renma jumped in their seat as the medium anticipate a physical confrontation. "Wow!! You're now the academy's emperor, huh, Eiichi!! Getting more comfortable with ordering people around!!"

"Te.... _Teacher_....?" I can't believe the person we've been worrying about for the past few months just appeared out of the blue, in front of our faces even, _Mafuyu Hisao the Former Ultimate Psychologist is actually here_.

".... The big critter is actually alive....?" the biologist commented about his current state. "This critter thought of the opportunity to fish the big critter out of the ditch one day...."

"He's not dead yet, Shoma....." Renma reminded him. "If he did then I would have heard about it from the other side...."

"Heey!! I'm still well and alive right now!! Have more faith in my own survival out in the wilderness!!" the psychologist whine and then pouted. "But then again, I did disappeared without any explanation, leaving my beloved students in the hands of those other nasty traitors!!"

 _Nasty traitors?_ Those other three? It would explain his anger and the betrayal bit here.

"We can assure you, teacher, that we were well taken care of during your absence...." Renma continued the conversation normally. "Of course, we were worried about your well-being, even after Mr. Nishida's..... _unexpected slip-up_..."

"Ah, I probably have to give away my side of the story now that you guys figured out, huh?" Hisao hummed happily. "Take a breather first.. since it's a very disappointing tale _about another slip-up that the wonderful Future Foundation made after **The Tragedy**_.... hey, you guys remembered that event, right? Or were you all actually too young to remember...... _**or even under another different control.**_..."

We flinched. I don't why that sentence alone generated a strong response from the three of us, we can't figure out what.... _or even don't remember why_. ' _I.... don't actually remember.... the past..... during The Tragedy..._.'

"That's probably part of the side-effects from the aftermath... I don't really understand how myself but it's a really interesting subject that I must research to my heart's content!!" the psychologist explained. "Back then, your beloved instructors were these really important students of Hope's Peak who helped out the creation of the _**Neo World Program**!_"

" _Neo_.... _World_...." A simulation? Creating a whole different world for.. _what?_

"Yup, yup!!" The psychologist approached me with a wide smile on his face. "A wonderful program that was proposed by the _Future Foundation_ for psychotherapy uses. It's an impressive feat really, to be so prepared for a devastating external cause...... _and yet it's not enough_....."

"They overlooked something....." I remembered that's what Investigator Iwao said before about _The Genesis_. "During the recovery of that tragedy, _they let some of them go_...."

"Interestingly, they said there was a certain... _**bug**_ in the system that made that mistake but can't prove that now since the same bug just destroyed the program itself.... _as well as the other current participants_...." Hisao snickers.

"What do you mean by _'current participants'_...." I don't like the sound of that. "Is this related to you and Shino?"

"Oh! About Shino! I heard about what she did!! I will have to apologize on her behalf..." he slightly bowed his head down. "I didn't expect her to go that far to make you learn your place! A simple warning would have been enough but since you're staying here instead of helping others with the upcoming festival, it must have hurt your feelings really badly, huh? _How adorably sensitive!_ "

"Teacher, I'm sure our investigator meant well by what she said, we were just shocked by the sudden change of our position here....." Renma interrupted without a care in his sudden raised tone. "Please don't make your students look bad like that...."

"Of course, I have high expectations of my students, I'm not as unreasonable as our dearest ghostwriter...." the psychologist replied. ".... _Believe my faith in my own students_ , _**you shitty mediator**_..."

The medium glared. After getting used to his usual audacious demeanor, Shoma and I almost trembled under his piercing gaze, leaving us speechless.

"You can pick a fight with me if you want to, Renma! But I can't promise your safety afterwards!" Hisao taunted him. "Everything's already set right now, _there's no use changing things back_....."

"So Shino and teacher are siding with genesis after all...." _I knew it_. "They really became traitors to the academy...."

"Now you can't say that so willingly, Eii-chan, _when you're the one who has no interest in it anyways_...." Hisao smirked. "I can see Shino has the most dedication out of the three of you to end this case once and for all but her methods in doing is really..... _self-destructive_ , you can say....."

"She doesn't have to do that....." Then what's the use of even taking Nara and I under her guidance. Does she really see us as her source of entertainment?

"Nara's work, before her current state, has been proved to be useful for us actually..... _especially yours_....." said the psychologist. "Do you really think _The Genesis_ didn't see you confronting Nishida about them? When that buffoon signed their death wish as he told you everything? Even Nara who carelessly left their evidences out in the open... _laced them with her special malware_...."

'.... _ **Hold on a second**_....' Everything he told us here.... _leads to something_. ' _This Neo World Program.... the same program that helped the tragedy's recovery... also leads to those people being despair-filled due to a certain bug causing an error or some sort..... and it happened again with a few participants that teacher mentioned.... then the program destroyed along with these participants.... if he brought up what Nara and I did with that much significance then_....'

I immediately stood up, the conclusion I reached after retracing back all of our steps... is anything but pleasant, "You two.... sacrificed the other three instructors, their personal bridges to access everything in the academy, and destroy the same program to prevent _The Genesis_ to spread more despair...."

"Bingo!!" Hisao laughed. "You got that right, Eii-chan!! Believe it or not, the fact that the despair they're trying recreate cause the lives of all the missing students for the past decade was finally destroyed by that simple step!! It's so simple that I'm getting second-hand embarrassment for those shitty people at the Future Foundation! The fact that a simple mistake can be easily destroyed by a simple malware from our dearest hacker...! I wanna laugh so badly at their face for their overestimation!"

"How...... extinguishing three lives just like that...." Renma stared at him with a disgusted look. "They're your old friends as well....."

"Huh? They have it coming for keeping their mouth shut about them...."the psychologist answered. "I gave them warnings and all that it will get worst but they still won't listened, _they refused to take the blame here_. And so I decided to lend a hand with those people, deterring them from doing a full-scale destruction or anything similar to creation of _**The Tragedy**_ before. But alas, the _Hope's Peak_ and _Future Foundation_ made a foolish plan of theirs...."

" _Us_...." We're the catalysts here. "They've sent us to investigate the students' disappearance...."

"How annoying is that!! Super annoying, I'm telling you!! It's like poking a wild beast from afar while waiting for it lash onto their guards instead!!" he complained while waving his arms around. "I thought about settling it myself but our dearest investigator figured it out and cornered me completely!! She's too sharp for her own kind!!"

".... Little star had been gifted with those special gifts, this critter knew that well...." Shoma added. "... This critter don't believe the little star would want to let her prey run away like that..... that star is more cunning than that...."

"If by cunning, you mean _'paranoid'_ then you would be correct, Shoma. She have plenty of doubts just about everyone!!" the psychologist corrected. "I wouldn't want to imagine how much damage there would be if the _Future Foundation_ directly asked Nara and Eiichi to do their bidding. After all, our enemies are unlike those from before, they're becoming more crafty in their mission to create more despair. They, _magnificently_ , forgot about that potential they may have...."

".... Teacher... _where's Shino now_...?" I'm getting more uneasy the more I hear his story. Something.... that Sumire said before, about that bit with the hotel ' _treatment_ ' thing..... something tells me that I should have taken that joke more seriously now I've heard our teacher's story.

"Oh, her? Well, she accidentally took the blunt end of everything so instead of perishing along with the other three, she lives...." he replied. "I'm not going to be cruel like Sumi here so I will give you the answer you wanted to hear. She's currently hospitalized at the same place as Nara but I would recommend going there as visitors...."

" _ **Why**?_"

"Well, there's this certain thorny flower that's very poisonous to the touch by her side at all time! If you want to have all your limbs intact and not be pulverized, it's best to listen to the flower's wishes!" _Kaoru?_ That bodyguard must have left the Mochizuki family a while ago then. "All these resources that would make anyone bend their knees.... still, she would rather play the unknown hero part, what a waste!"

" ** _That's enough_**....." I stood up, immediately. "...I don't get what's deal with Shino's decision in everything but I won't let even teacher to look down on her like that. She's been doing everything she can to stop them and you're making it sound like she treats this whole operation as a game instead...."

"Mhn, I'm not wrong though? Or actually, it's more of a _half-truth and half-wrong situation_....." Hisao ponders. "Still, _it's not as if_ _she's never in any danger at all_. Almost everyone's affected here but you three are the lucky ones!! Eiichi gets to play the emperor in the academy while the queen chess piece is out there, eliminating all the obstacles!! Be more grateful for that since you guys don't have to get your hands all dirty!"

"Why would us, critters, be grateful for that......" Shoma tensed up. "That current wave is too stressful for the little star to endure.... this critter couldn't imagine being too relief in our reef like that......"

"You can still- Ah, I forgot, _**you don't want to actually help**_ , don't you, Shoma?" Hisao smirked as he approached the biologist next. "Don't think I didn't notice it, Shoma! You insisted in keeping your distance from this matter when things has gotten too rough for you to handle. You're quite a weakling out of everyone else after all! But to be fair, _ **you're still a better person than this poor excuse of a mediator here**_...."

"What are you talking about...." Renma narrowed his eyes. Sitting with his arms and legs crossed, I can see him strongly gripping onto his forearm when the psychologist's attention focused onto him.

"Please quit it with that _'mature and wise'_ gimmick, you're just making yourself a bigger fool here. _Just a misguided young man who refuses to get hurt again_ , you think by dropping hints here and there would make you a good person? It just makes you more arrogant instead! _Arrogant! Annoying!! Incredibly stuck-up!!!_ " the psychologist pointed at him, accusingly.

"What's so great about acting high and mighty when you're just using your mouth without doing jack shit? Hogging all the answers to yourself is considered to be the biggest crime! Be more ashamed of yourself! It's like you're waiting for all of this to end so that you can show-off your so called _'talent'_ again-"

In a flash, the medium had the psychologist on the ground, hand wrapped around his neck, his face filled of pure brittle rage, "You sure enjoy running that mouth of yours far too much... _Me? Not doing anything?_ _**Then this should be acceptable**_..."

Hisao chocked once Renma tightens his hands around his throat, even through immense pain, he still managed to laugh, "T-That's right!! F-Fight it out!! You've..... been wanting to do this for a long time now, right!?"

" _You little-!!_ "

" _ **Stop!!**_ " I jumped ahead, pulled the medium by his shoulders and slammed him against the wall. Right when he was about to go forward again, I took out my pocket knife, pressing it against his throat, " _I'm not going to repeat myself, Oki Renma!!_ "

With the psychologist behind us currently recovering, coughing a bit from his throat being forcefully contracted before, the medium's breathing slowly ease down 'till he finally calms down. Or at least tried to when his hand still curled into a fist, shaking.

"Heh... and there he is... the actual _Ultimate Spy_ doing his job for once...." Hisao chucked, still coughing. "It's been a while since I've last seen this serious side of yours. All of this would have finished more quickly if that investigator decided to use you more...."

".... She said so herself that I should decide what I wanted to do for myself....." I retracted the knife from the medium's throat, still holding it steady in my hand. "And not for someone else's..."

"And so you decide to leave it all behind you? A cold-hearted one... " the psychologist stood up, "...but it's still understandable! In fact, she did threw you away and always disappeared whenever you're looking for her. You're better off be your own person now that you're out of it-"

"Not yet...."

"What was that-" He shuts his mouth once I pointed the knife at him this time.

"I said..... _**not yet**_...." 

Listening and waiting for anyone to tell me what to do, just anticipating for anyone to look for me so that I can have a bit of meaning in my life. _She must have hated that_. The investigator must have hated my willingness to waste my life away over something that I wasn't happy about. 

She intentionally made me turn away from this... _to at least figure myself out_.

" ** _She_** said _'we're out of it'_.... but **_I_** didn't say anything that would solidify that completely. _**She**_ **_gave me a choice_** to leave this thing completely behind me...." _That's her biggest mistake instead_. "So I decided to help her out. That's what **_I_** wanted to do for myself...."

"Do that and you will have plenty of regrets coming your way...." Hisao looked at me disapprovingly. "Honestly, do you even hear yourself? Making a pact with the devil would only shorten your lifespan even more...."

" _Aren't you doing the same thing as well?_ " I reminded him about his position before. ".... I won't hurt you now if it really put a dent in Shino's plan but.... if you stand in her way then **_I won't hesitate to eliminate you_**. I'm not sure if Shino knew this but _I would feel extremely guilty if I just leave my friend like that_. There's no satisfaction in that, _I won't be happy at all_. _I_ _want to die with a purpose to fulfill which is why I decided to help her_...."

"Wow, I'm so wrong about the medium one here....." the psychologist continued with no reaction whatsoever. " ** _You're the most misguided one of them all_**....." 

"So what? At least I have a goal to fulfill unlike you who just avoid picking sides while trying to please both at the same time..... _which ended poorly for you instead._ At least our Nara's still alive....." the psychologist, for once, gets the hit this time. His eyes widened as he lets me finish.

".... **I will do my job as an _Ultimate Spy_... out of my willingness to help my dear friend out**...."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Eighth Circle - In Buddhism, there are eight major hell that are all reserved for different crimes that the person committed in their life. The eighth circle is known as 'Mugen Jigoku', 'Avīci' or 'The Hell of Unending Suffering', which is reserved for the worst of them all. 
> 
> ____________
> 
> \- sips tea -  
> And somehow Eiichi dug even deeper in his own grave-


	26. XXV. Cacophony I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the lucky student and investigator finally reunited for their final planning, the former is still looking for answer from an unexpected source of them all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally updating this a month later lmao  
> A lot of things have been happening irl (funeral etc) but I managed to write some for the series and now there's the epilogue left!!  
> Next chapter arc is [ Encore ] a.k.a 'The Graduation Day'
> 
> ____________
> 
> Reminder for this [poll](https://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?p=5ec7928de4b018b4d5fdec0c) to vote your fav chara just for fun! (Extended till 25th August!!)
> 
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In the end, I still chose to go on a reckless path with more sacrifices. _Go figure_ s, if Investigator Iwao knew about this, he will surely scold and lecture about _unnecessary sacrifices_. Sumire and I will get in so much trouble if we got caught...

**_If_ ** _they caught onto us that is._

Kaoru already have his words to say when I got there, nothing more than a _"Wow, you're chasing after a literal death trap now? How lame!"_ speech but he still has some integrity in him to let me see our teammate here.

And to say Sumire was shocked to see me is.... _part of it_.

* * *

"You little....!!" Sumire pinched my cheek as if she should be the one disciplining me in this situation. "How many times must I shoo you away!? Do I have to hire some assassins to make you leave for good!?"

"Ow, ow. oww!!!" This isn't even funny, it actually hurts like hell! "Like you're the one to talk here!! Making other people send your cryptic messages, how else are we supposed to react!? And I have many reasons to be the one being mad at you!! As if I'm letting you go off on this and treat this whole mission like it's your version of _Macbeth!!_ "

"Oh? You're going physical on this poor-injured patient here? You will get thrown out if you do that..." She fell back onto her pillow as she sighed. "Ahhh, what rotten luck, I thought I finally got rid of some loose ends...."

I placed my hand onto the bruised cheek to cool the pain, "You got rid of Renma and Shoma so it's still a success..... you made them disappointed about it though....."

" _Let them be like that_ , it's by their own accord anyway...." Haven't heard that line for a long time already; _let them believe in what they want to believe_. That sentence holds a lot of weight to it now that I know why she always uses it. ".... It's for the best...."

"I get that but completely cut yourself from everyone else can get you in a lot of trouble...." I told her. "Someone's bound to notice something wrong so you better have a perfectly normal explanation here...."

"I can use countless excuses and they will eat it up easily. Coming up with really soul-crushing and dangerous mission scenarios is a piece of cake for someone like me...."

"Don't forget!! There's a reliable adult here!!" Kaoru, the Former Ultimate Bodyguard, slipped-in without us realising. He must have entered the room when we were arguing. "Getting really worried here! Having to deal with another useless death is unnecessary so here I am! The world's greatest human garbage here to ruin your day!!"

" _Just seeing your face every day is enough for me, Ru-chan_...."

"Well, look who's causing the ruckus now?" There will never be peace whenever these two are together. "...... Hey, Shino.... _you're doing okay?_ "

"Alas, _I'm still alive_...." she sounds so remorseful about it. "What do you think? Here I am, waiting for it but in the end, _I underestimate my own expectations_......"

"At least you're not........ _like Nara_..." Having two people out right now wouldn't do well for me, especially if I have to explain it to those people at Hope's Peak. "Anyways, stop planning your demise so early.... you're not even a quarter-way done with your place from what I've heard...."

"Who is it that keeps on blabbering this time..... _was it Ru-chan?_ " she glared at the bodyguard (who just shiver in response...... _appropriately this time_ ) before shifting her attention onto me again. "Or teacher?"

"A mixture of both, _we have a bunch of unreliable people helping us_...." Teacher tried his best to scare me off of the case while Kaoru didn't put any effort into it at all. "... I also heard what you did to the other three instructors...."

"A fairer exchange compared to the death that's been accumulating right after we got dragged into it....." Sumire stated her reasons next. ".... After the deal with _The Genesis_ , I took the chance and destroy everything they have that made others surrender to _despair_ so easily... I can't believe they would use that _Neo World Program_ thing for that kind of purpose...."

"The program that the teacher helped to create...." After hearing everything that the psychologist said about his involvement, I looked more into this project. _A program that helps people to recover from traumatic events, replacing painful memories with new and happy ones_. **_How ironic_**. "But it's destroyed now, right? Thanks to that _'bug'_...."

"I'm grateful that Nara actually thinks that far ahead. Really scary for her to make something before her deathbed but incredibly useful for emergency's sake...." the investigator praised the hacker. "Still... _there was a slim chance I would miss it and it could have been taken from us_......"

"Hey, aren't you being heavily monitored here?" Kaoru interrupted. "You're still under their watch and I don't think this kid here even have his signal-jamming device right now...."

"Relax, _they already knew I did it anyways_......" she reassured us. " _And that_ , somehow, _gave them a lot of despair_. Having their only toy to be destroyed by an outsider whom they accidentally welcomed in.... well, the whole process did feel like I'm just crushing a child's dream right in front of them....."

"And yet they won't give up?" They're still standing after what Sumire did? ".... _The fact that you're still alive_...."

"Unfortunately, they found another use for me to do their bidding...." the investigator shook her head. "Geez, selling your soul to the devil is kind of scary now that I really see how the whole process work...."

"I would say I told you so... _if you actually listened to what I said_..." said Kaoru. "Too bad..... well, not like it matters since the fault lies on _Hopes' Peak_ and _Future Foundation_ still..."

"How...?" I asked, knowing really well how he's going to answer that.

"Who in their right mind let off a couple of survivors from **_The Tragedy_** , still filled with despair?" Kaoru started. "And who let children like the three of you investigate this serious disappearance case when they have their own men? I call bullshit on their trustworthy nature way before all of this could happen. To me, it looks like they're just sending out lambs to be slaughtered like it's no big deal...."

" ** _Then let it be_**....." Sumire continued. " ** _Let this whole thing be their only mistake_**. After all, they will only continue to be comfortable in their seat until something disastrous came up..... something almost akin to _the starting point of The Tragedy_...."

"Shino...."

"...... I'm going to rest for a while...." she let out a big yawn as her eyes drooped a bit. "Listening to both sides is exhausting... I will be up for the whole day tomorrow..... just don't bother waking me up later...."

With that, she nestled deep in the hospital bed and easily fell asleep. Kaoru signalled to leave the room and once we did, he went ahead to ask, "So you still want to work with us? Especially after what Su-chan did?"

" _Yes_...." I didn't hesitate this time. "And I decided it by myself, not by spymaster or anyone else...."

"Not my place to stop you, just curious to know what you're thinking here...." the bodyguard shrugged. "I almost bet on my life that you will abandon this case altogether due to your anonymity so what changed your mind?"

"I...." I bit my lower lip as I answered slowly. ".... I decided to help a friend out one last time.... _before leaving this whole thing behind me_...."

"Living out under a different 'guise afterwards... I see..." We both walked down the long hallway that would lead to the reception room. "Su-chan's words must have messed you up that badly...."

"It's just... it's the first time someone would dare to say all that to my face...." And Sumire is never afraid to say what she thinks which is a living death wish itself. "Guess I've been a walking mindless zombie all this time...."

"If it helps, I didn't know you're even part of this whole mess...." Kaoru replied. "Like you're invisible or something but once something serious happened, you just showed up without a fail. _That would get people talking_..."

_If anyone noticed it then I will surely get caught in no time._

"Yet again, Su-chan chased you out of it and you did so easily....." the bodyguard brought up that point again. " ** _I wonder if you weren't being serious about it this entire time_**...."

"That's not true-" I snapped but Kaoru's glare stopped me in my tracks.

" ** _Careful_**... _I don't like hearing useless things_... **_I will bite you to death if you dare say it_**...."

I gulped. Even if it's Kaoru, someone whom I've gotten somewhat close to, I don't want to fight back a yakuza right now. _'This isn't something I can even joke..... Kaoru is the one being pissed off here.....'_

"..... Or so I would like to....." Kaoru then sighed out of frustration. "Unfortunately, I need to stop my violent tendencies for now. Even Su-chan has her hands on my own family's business currently....."

" _Which is?_ "

" _A wound for another wound_...." the bodyguard replied. "And she's not the type to do things in half-assed fashion either....."

_Did she threatened him-_

_"_ **_You little_ ** _-!!!"_

At that exact moment, the former Ultimate Bodyguard got slammed into the ground by another green-haired person. There wasn't enough time to even react but once I realised what just happened, I called out to the attacker, "Hi-Hinako...?"

"Eii-chan, are you alright? Were you being suffocated to death by this lowly maggot here?" Hinako smiled innocently, despite doing the same thing that she accused her brother to be doing to me. "We apologised for our late arrival, Mitsun and Kiharu wanted to stop-by some shops to buy something for our beloved investigator...."

"Aha...!! Hina..! It's so good to see you- _Ackh!?_ "

" _Close your mouth!! You're infecting this whole place with your smelly breath!!_ "

" _We_....?" As if on cue, the rest of our classmates arrived just in time to pry the animal behaviourist from injuring a bystander. Taiga and Machi managed to hold her off and she sends a glare down at Kaoru. "You guys...."

"We heard about Sumi's condition from teacher....." Homare started and I almost flinched at hearing that sentence. _So teacher told them...?_ "As the class president, all of us opted to pay our dear friend a visit for a small _'get well'_ ceremony...."

"That fucking sounds like we're doing it by force..." Higura joined in. "Since Sumi got injured during her investigation or some other shit, a small encouragement from our visit here could help, lifting her spirits or some shit like that...."

 _It's not the whole thing_ , so the psychologist decided to tell him just the front of it as to cover up the mess behind the scene. Even though he has no choice but to do all of this by both The Genesis and us, he still made an effort as to not exposed either of them to other innocent people.

"She's currently resting right now..." I lifted Kaoru off from the floor. "And I'm not sure if she's doing it because she doesn't feel like talking to me or... _this guy here_...."

" _Oh, the weird kidnapper from Tanabata_...." Kiharu recognised the bodyguard's face in an instant. "So he's a worker here....? I thought he's just ' _some no-good meat slab who has no reason to be around_ ', quoted by Hinako herself..."

"Ah... to be insulted by my younger sister far from earshot is quite saddening...." Kaoru sobbed. "But I'm also happy that she's grown to despise people as well..!"

" ** _Okay then_**...." I immediately dropped him, his back slammed against the floor with a huge thud and a small noise of pain coming from him. A sudden reflex, I just did it to shut him up. "You guys better be quiet when visiting a patient..... _especially you, Mitsuru_...."

"Oh hush!! I'm not some barbarian who doesn't know the meaning of peace in this sacred place!!" the cosmetologist pouted. "Even this ' _Wild Chemist Beautician'_ understand the virtue of being silence!!"

"She planned to make a surprise for Sumi but Gura and I rejected her idea...." Saku brought up her true plan here. "No worries, we got everything under our control... especially when it comes to our most active people here!"

"Then I will be counting on you, _Sakkun, Homare_...."

While it does sound dramatic, I can never forget how Mitsuru's beauty experiments lead to two labs completely unusable for two months. _It would have been called 'a happy little accident' if our pockets weren't the one being threatened here._

With the cosmetologist scolding the aerobat for revealing her plan too early, I decided to inspect each and everyone so far who decided to visit Sumire from afar. Almost everyone's here.... _except for Shoma, Renma, Nao, Amane and Taiga_. Actually, I'm more content that the ghostwriter isn't here right now, " _What about others?_ "

"Tai and Amane have some event stuff to do!!" Hiroshi answered quickly. "You know how it is with those two! They're the most popular ones in our class!! About Shoma and Renma.... _well_...."

" _They got stopped by Hoshino Iwao_....." Machi continued from where the abseiler stopped. "They told us to go on ahead since _it's some sort of serious private conversation_...."

_Crap, if Iwao's here_.... then aren't we already screwed here? We're being cornered here even with Kaoru's on our side- _Not to say that he's useless but with Hinako here, he's completely out of it_. "T-Then I will go and check on them!! Need to be sure if they're not in any trouble or something!!"

"Renma, I get... but why would Shoma be in trouble?" Hibiki curiously asked. "If you like, I can accompany you-"

"No need!!" Getting involved in this messy affair is not worth it, Hibiki!! "You guys can go on ahead!! Third floor, far end of the hallway if you guys didn't get it from teacher!! I will come back with the other two, no worries!!"

Working on my quick reasoning and giving them the directions, I hastily dismissed myself from the group. I may have made myself looked suspicious but at this point, I really don't care anymore on how other people see me as ' _It's not like..... they knew what I'm actually like...._ '

 _Ah, it's pitiful when things like these only proved that young investigator's points correct once again_.

* * *

It's considered a blessing that the hospital isn't that busy during the midday. It would have attracted a lot of unnecessary attentions why a prolific investigator is currently having a conversation with three students from an Ultimate academy because _most people would instantly suspect some sort of minor case going on instead_.

It, unfortunately, took me a few months to know about this trait of his but Investigator Iwao has little to no privacy at all when it comes dealing with potential leads or very important people relating to it.

"Shoma, Renma...!" Sitting near the front entrance and the visitor's hall, three very laid-back people are currently having a normal conversation as they didn't hear me calling out for them or even approaching them.

"- And the small critter exploded when this critter used the scalpel!!" Is Shoma telling them one of his experiments again? It's becoming his go-to topic when getting to know other people now.

"Interesting, I will take note of it, _Hiko-han_...." Iwao chuckles. "Send my regards to that brute of the family as well...."

"This critter will happily send anything from any close floundering critters...!!"

 _By brute, is he referring to Shoma's guardian?_ "Mr Iwao... why are you here...?"

"Ah, Oshi-han...." He then turned to see me. "I've been waiting to see when you're going to show your face up.... _after scaring away your classmates_..."

"Using other people to announce your presence is quite a bold move, dear older investigator...." said Renma. "What would happen if they didn't tell our dearest lucky student here but instead went for others like security?"

"People these days are a bunch of blabbermouths, they will say anything that seemed exciting to them only. Even if it's something as minor as seeing a very popular figure in public from afar...." Iwao shrugged. "And you're underestimating my status and relationship with a few groups.... _including yours, Enma-han_....."

"Oh? Am I getting suspected again?"

"Not this time... you're already out of it...."

What is this about again? Is there something wrong with Renma's family? Considering his rather strain relationship with them, pointing out their association has been seen as an insult by the medium. "Mr Iwao, were you... waiting for me to explain about Shino...?"

"Don't put yourself that high on the pedestal, **_there's nothing about my student's psyche that I wouldn't know about_**...." The older investigator rested his chin onto the palm of his left hand while crossing his legs together. ".... And there's also nothing I can do to stop her at all...."

"You knew she was going to do something like this...?" My eyes widened. This person saw this mess coming from thousands of kilometres away and yet... _he did nothing_.

"Sorry, this isn't the right place to discuss that...." he said while looking around our surroundings. "Say, Enma-han.... any idea on where should we talk about it?"

"Allow me, this hospital has become my second home after the Amahiko's residence...." Renma suggested. "The rooftop should be drained of human and spiritual presence after my few visits to this place....."

"Happy to hear that, thank you...." the older investigator nodded. "Well then, Oshi-han... I'm sure you have plenty of questions for me to answer but I will give you more time to sort them out first..... ** _this will be the only time you get to play as the investigator here_**...."

_'Why does he say it so intimidatingly....'_ Still, I gave an audible noise of agreement, letting the former ultimate going ahead. I let out a big sigh as if I'm the one being interrogated heavily here, "Gah... I can't even think of anything.... if I said something wrong then I'm dead-meat...."

"Please relax, little critter....." Shoma went over to my side, massaging my shoulders as a way of comforting others. "The big, bright star isn't known to be blinded with envy and hatred..... whatever enchantment you will cast on him, there will be no effect...!"

" _Shoma, please remember who you're visiting here actually_..." I tried to elude Sumire's state here.

"However, _he expected for our little investigator to pull a small stunt like this before_... or so he said...." Renma repeated the former ultimate's words. "While that sentiment can more or less be your main concern towards a person such as him.... _wouldn't that speak volume of what our dear friend has been hiding instead_...?"

"There's nothing new about it, Shino has always taken advantage of connections she formed over the year-"

"I'm not referring to ' _how_ ' and ' _what_ '... more specifically, you should ask ' _why_ ' would she do that..." the medium interrupts. "Careful on which line you're trying to step here, little luckster...."

"... Say you two... do you think that... Shino could just be... the **_Demonic Investigator_** , that ridiculous name that they always throw around.....?"

"We have no clear answers for that...." Renma looked at Shoma for further statement. The marine biologist gestured him to continue, "... perhaps that could be your next question for the Mr Iwao.... after all.... **_aren't you the one looking forward to this moment_** _?_ "

I did say it to Hisao before, that I'm excited to come face-to-face with the _Former Ultimate Private Investigator_. But not like this. Not with the chances where I'm at risk here. _'That's... just the price of wanting things that badly, I guess....'_

Nonetheless, I urged both Renma and Shoma to go on ahead and meet up with others before visitors' hour are over, just so I can have enough time to think about my curiosity here. Both investigators have to lead their lives in secrecy and I just managed to take a peek in it without even meaning to. _And now I accidentally got caught in the middle of it_.

'.... _I just don't understand why Mr. Iwao would let her get away with it_....' Or even why would Sumire even want to do such dangerous stunts without thinking twice about it. After what happened with Nara, I was under the impression that she was afraid of her mentor but she still went beyond to ignore his wishes entirely.

'..... _One last time_....' Even with my head filled with jumbled-up thoughts, my body automatically headed for the rooftop where the older investigator's waiting. Despite being nervous about this whole ordeal, I have to convince myself, ' _This will be the last time... where I have to deal with others personally_...'

And once I'm in front of the door, leading to the outside world, I opened it without hesitation.

'.... _Then maybe after this, I will disappear for good.... if I can help both of them this time. I trusted them a lot.... and I failed them too many times now.....'_

.... _I want to know the answers about both of the investigators... not as an outsider this time, but at least as a close friend._


	27. XXVI. Cacophony II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With some answers from the former ultimate of Hope's Peak Academy, the lucky student pressed on forward with a new change of pace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !! TW !!  
> Slight mentions of depression. 
> 
> ____________
> 
> Reminder for this [poll](https://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?p=5ec7928de4b018b4d5fdec0c) to vote your fav chara just for fun! (Extended till 25th August!!)
> 
> Updates will be posted on [twitter](https://twitter.com/dr_mdst)! So give a follow if you want some heads-up or updates on the next chapter or project!!

True to the medium's words, the rooftop is completely vacant, save for the two remaining people currently present; Investigator Iwao and myself here. Usually, the roof is an off-limit place, no matter where you go but Renma must have gotten special permission for us to be left alone (he must be serious about this place being his second home).

There was silence between the two of us first, the investigator just looked over the view of the city from high-up while smoking and I'm just.... _cowering next to him_.

The talk just now about dealing things head-on? _Yeah, that's a lie, I'm a huge coward still_.

"I thought I could finally have a verbal fight with the newer generation of Ultimates...." Iwao commented while looking down. "But I might have overestimated their capabilities here...?"

"If you're going to fight a student like me, then we will surely lose..." I replied, lifted my head from my arms as I continued. "Ugh.... just when I psyched myself up before this, I curled up like a useless shrimp in the end...."

" _Don't talk like that around Hiko-han._.." the other gave a bit of small advice. "It's normal to feel anxious. An Ultimate or not, there's no spoken rule that they must act more superior than ordinary people...."

The investigator is strangely comforting... _in his own words_. All of those years of picturing him as some sort of cold-hearted brute was thankfully abolished with an image of a more mature older man who at least understands other people's feelings. _Which is why_... "Say, Mr Iwao... this will be the last time I wanna pry into other people's business but.... did you meant for Shino to be _next-in-line?_ "

" _No_ , **_never_**...." the former Ultimate up-front. "However, **_she_** **_insisted_**.... not only to me but herself, that she wanted to dedicate her life to it. As her guardian, I have no objections, _as long as she's happy with it_.

"That's a really weird reason why she went on with it....." As if she enjoyed stepping others down like that. "Even if that's it then... she's certainly not been gaining that same joy for a while now....."

"Ah, there's where you're wrong, Oshi-han...." He pointed at me using the bud of an extinguished cigarette. " _Mirei-han is Mirei-han_ and the words she said towards others might be due to experiences or something similar. She has that _'learn & adapt' _advice in mind so you could imagine what kind of cases she went through behind the scene....."

" _I've been trying to understand her for almost a year now_....."

" ** _Exactly_**....." he flicked the cigarette away, letting it fall from the rooftop we're on. "Her line of thoughts are...... _vague at most_. You can try to figure out her motives... but you won't get anywhere. Which is where my mistake lies during her training years, honestly speaking....."

"Then.... _all those talks about disappointing you was_......" Was that also a lie?

"....... When I met up with that psychologist instructor again, **_after beating him up first for my satisfaction_**....." Yikes, no wonder we haven't seen teacher for weeks now. "I asked him what he thought of her at first. And he gave me this simple reply.... _'I've never seen a hollow mask being worn by an ignorant doll before'_...."

 _A hollow doll wearing a mask._ So, nothing about what we knew of the Ultimate Private Investigator.... _have been true so far_.

" _Of course, I have to beat him up for that_ -"

" _Questionable and not necessary_..."

"But it still proves my suspicion to be correct...." Iwao mumbled. "I always noticed that slight change from when I took her in till now. _Mirei-han's good at lying to people whenever she needed it_...."

"But it doesn't like she was lying about it-"

" _That's because she doesn't know it herself_...." the investigator added. "Like a conman trying to convince people to believe in your lies more, she convinced herself to believe in those lies she made up. And just like that, her original intent got lost in those bundle of words......"

"And.... you've just noticed it.....?"

"...... Even if I answer that, that doesn't excuse my ignorance now, does it?" he sighed. "What was Mirei-han's catchphrase again? _'Let them believe what they wanted to believe'_? Say, what do you think about that line now with that new piece of information?"

 _Terrifying_. That's all I have described it. This entire time, that line meant more to her than being known as a throwaway line to others. _Maybe she initially used it as a distraction that she later forgot its original purpose?_ "I.... don't know what to believe in right now...."

"Hey, don't fry your circuits now, we got an unfinished job to do...." he patted my head repeatedly. "... If it gives you a bit of hope, Mirei-han has been talking about you more than ever lately..."

"Why?"

" ** _She's worried_**...." the investigator rephrased it again. "Geez, I know you're confused but at least have a bit of sentiment here. I have visited here before you but she's becoming more.... _lively, in a sense_...."

"Huh... I thought she wanted to be sure that the **_Demonic Investigator_** is going to live up to their title this time....."

".... Oh right, _I have those journalists to track down next time_...." He's still going to beat up more people?! "... Speaking about those bullshit articles... I heard that one of your classmates are also responsible for it from Mirei-han? _Ishimoto Nao_ , was it?"

"Yes, and I would gladly let you have at them...." I replied without hesitation.

"She's that small kid, right? Sorry, I don't want my name to be thrown around for picking on a weak-looking child this time.... especially when it's that Ishimoto's kid....."

 _Damn it_.

The investigator seems to recognised most of our classmates' relatives; _Hanabusa_ , _Amahiko, Oki, Yoshimune and Ishimoto_. _Like mentor, like student_ ; similar chest of knowledge. "So, what do you think of her doing...?"

"If anything, what Mirei-han had in mind was..... _pretty horrifying_...." that last part almost ended in a whisper. "More terrible than what I and Rai-han did back then.... seriously, that cruel part of history has to repeat itself...."

"What do you mean...?" It's still about those rumours, right?

".... If Mirei-han's plan succeeded.... something akin to **_The Tragedy_** happened...." he looked over me with the next question that burrowed deep into my consciousness, "... and with the same fake knowledge being fed to them by that ghostwriter and other journalists..... **_who would they placed their blame on?_** "

.......

 _There's only_ ** _one_** **_culprit_** _in that situation. And it's still a lie. Because that's what they will end up believing in._

"If that happened, either two things will happen.... _everyone will get dragged down alongside her_... or...." he paused for a moment, before finishing off with, ".... **_we let her be_**....."

"... Let me guess...." I take a shot in the dark next. "Shino must have gotten you and Mr Raisei' hands bound so that you two won't make your next move..."

"I'm amazed by her resourcefulness but as for _Rai-han_.. _not so much_...." he hesitated to even mention the yakuza leader. "It took me a week to calm that hot-headed bastard down before he painted the street red again. I reasoned with him that..... if he and Kaoru even go against Mirei-han, _they have another thing to worry about_....."

**_The Genesis_**. The sole reason why the younger investigator even went with this destructive plan, to begin with. The same culprit who has a hold of almost everything through the Yumeino Ultimate Academy.... _including its students_.

' _Just by association, that's probably what Shino used against Kaoru... He's being hostile towards her now but I couldn't imagine that he took it that well_...'

"Time for me to leave now.... if I stay here for too long then this apprentice of mine will end up searching for me........ best to not include more innocent bystanders this time around...." With the flutter of his coat, Iwao took a swift departure. "..... Hey, for you to still be here..... that's by your own decision, right?"

"Yes...." I hesitantly answered.

".... Then, do me a favour......" he said. "... _Please stay by her side until the end_. I didn't manage to do the same for her back then but you did it without a fail. _It will mean a lot for her to have someone as persistent as you to still be around_...."

"Yeah... _I will_...."

 _Staying by her side more.... is easier said than done_.

* * *

"I'm back- **_What the hell happened_** _!?_ "

Just when I thought... I would be greeted by a more cheerful scenery.... _something disastrous just happened while I was away_.

"I..... _don't know how_...." Homare started. "But... Mitsun managed to pull that trick of hers without us noticing-"

"No, no, no!!! This is not entirely your fault, Homare!!" Saku quickly justified the fencer's carelessness. "W-We did hold her back but-!!"

"Ahh!!! It's so dull and boring!!" Mitsuru whined as she pouts. "This whole room is physically suffocating for Sumire and everyone else here!! All I did was taking those problems and made it even better!! What's wrong with that!?"

" _You have no permission to cover the room with paint or whatsoever_...." I have no idea how but the cosmetologist managed to cover not only the room in wild colours but everyone else as well. Renma's smiling but the corner of his mouth has been continuously twitching after what he said earlier. " _Dear, oh dear..... I wonder if the ninth circle would mind another spot shortly_....."

"Stop joking around...!!" Machi scolded him. "If you want to send someone to hell then do it now!! Force those damned spirits to drag her soul into the fiery pit already!!"

"Why the fuck are you encouraging him instead, you asshole four-eyed!?" Higura argued. "And you, spiritfucker, don't you even dare pull that shit on us!!"

"Hey...!! Stop fighting!!!" I stepped into the battlefield. "Argh..!! Shut up already!! Stop disturbing the patient or else I will kick everyone out!!

It would be weird to admit this after whatever the hell has happened so far; _that's the first time I raised my voice_. I was overwhelmed by some raw emotion, _something that ignited within me when I saw my classmates fighting._

_'I know it's not that serious but just now... Hiroshi and Hibiki immediately jumped onto their feet right after I scolded them..... they seemed pretty shock too- Agh, whatever!! It should be natural that I get annoyed too!!'_

Before any of the hospital staff could overhear our commotion, I managed to leave Homare with others to do her thing (I'm too mentally drained to be the one scolding Mitsuru so I'm going to leave it up to her. Also, I'm not that brave to scold Renma as well for starting the whole thing). So now, the only people remaining inside the room are Hinako, Shoma and Renma.

"Getting not a single day off.... can't we have a normal visit for once..?" I looked over to the investigator's side who's been quiet this entire time. "You're strangely quiet, Shino..... did you finally get used to Mitsun's antics....."

" ** _No, I was completely speechless_**...." Sumire finally spoke. "The explosion blinded me and my mind stopped working due to Mitsun's sheer bravery....."

For once, something caught her off-guard in the real world; Mitsuru's daring nature. Besides the point, I thought she was being quiet this entire time due to not wanting to reveal things so carelessly but _whatever this explosion they're talking, it just stunned her from speaking_.

"Hehe, the young starfish has been gone from us for so long that they finally received this so-called _'taste of their own medicine'_...!" Shoma skipped over to the investigator's side as he kneels, his chin resting on top of the mattress. "... _Welcome back, small starfish_.. _!_ "

" _I'm back, Shoma_...." Sumire smiled, finally letting go of those loads from her shoulders. "Sorry for keeping these things from you all for so long...."

"It would have been preferable that way....." the medium interjected. "After all, this is a sole battle between you and those people, we're just the onlookers being caught in the middle. Must we act as your unnecessary pawns, dear investigator?"

"Yes and no, it depends....." Sumire shrugged. "What happened after graduation is honestly _up to pure luck_. It might go well or wrong. Either way.... _those people will get what they deserved_...."

"About **_this thing_** that you said will happen after we graduate...." I hesitantly asked. "Is it **_that_**?"

" ** _A killing game_**...."

"So what my brother said was true....." said Hinako with a sour expression. "I didn't believe you two at first but guess I should have seen it coming. So, what's the deal now? You already used me as a bait so that my family can play along so what's next?"

"Ah, that's all actually, Nako. There's nothing else I have in mind for you...."

"Wha-!? At least treat me with some importance!!!"

" _Hinako, do you want to live or not...?_ " I asked, uncertain of her actual concern with that. "So this is going to be another repeat of **_The Tragedy_**?"

"There's nothing else I can do to lessen the damage....." the investigator leaned against the pillow. "... From here on.... only a few preparations left to make....."

"Which is......" I was interrupted by the sound of the door opened and this time, it's by some latecomers.

"Sorry for being la- _Whoa, Mitsun did a number on this room_...." Taiga was taken back by the state of the hospital room while Amane just walked past it.

"The bizarre has become the norm for us, fortunately, to not stand there and gawk uselessly...." the composer urged the marksman to close the door behind them. "And so, we will continue this visit as normally as we can. Here, a gift from my grandparents that will boost your immune system..."

"What's that...?" I raised an eyebrow. "It looks like bread...?"

" _Because it is bread_...."

 _I know that_. It's just that this is the first time I witnessed Amane giving such mundane stuff for others. Usually, he would give them some inexpensive trinkets to stand out more. "Well, makes sense that it's from your grandparents- _What the hell's that smell!?_ "

As Amane unwrapped the loaf, its putrid smell quickly circulated the room which made everyone, excluding Hinako and Shoma, to cover their nose.

"Smells like this critter's homestead...." Shoma seemed to like it more instead. "Did the penguin critter made a pact with the blue jewel...?"

"If you assume I drenched it with ocean water I will have to educate you...." Amane sounds annoyed. "It's made by my grandmother's well-taught student. Truly a master of his skill and the on-going force of my creative process!"

"Mane, I don't know what you're thinking but I'm not risking my life to... _eat that thing_...." Sumire slowly hid under her cover the more she witnessed the purple fumes from the loaf. "Just leave it aside and- _Wait, why are you approaching me like that!?_ "

"Don't be barbarous!! Appreciate the craftsmanship that I have brought here to behold at!!" Amane exclaimed. "Now silence your grievances and relish in its glory!!"

"You're being ridiculous!! Eii-chan, stop him!!"

_Hmmm, what a big decision to make_. Should I help that person who caused me a lot of trouble for the past few months? Or let them suffer for a while?

......

Why is that a question, _I know exactly what I'm going for_.

"Shoma, Renma!! Hold her down!!"

"Eii-chan, you traitor!!"

"Please be calm, little critter...! The more the critter struggle, the more they will be sucked into the abyss....!!"

"Fufu, an abyss that's akin to the fiery pits of the underworld, that is..."

"Sumire, good luck! As an unimportant bystander, there's nothing else I can do!!"

" ** _You guys_** _..._ ** _!!_** "

* * *

" _Uhu... Eii-chan became so cruel to me...._ "

" _Shut up, you deserved it....._ "

"Hah, even an act of suffering couldn't fool his already warm heart...." Sumire chuckles. "But it's a huge relief I didn't die from it... I still have a lot to do on my part....."

"Yeah.... _that_...." I got distracted that I didn't recall back why she ended up here in the first place. "I forgot you're now the key player in this whole mess...."

"Don't be stubborn, this is our last necessary penance...." said the investigator in a stern voice. "I don't like admitting that a part of me wishes for a better resolution but with many of our leads being taken from us.... **_this is our last resort_**...."

"Well, _I don't like it_ , how about that?" I told her, upfront and directly at her face. "Didn't your mentor said about unnecessary sacrifices? What happened to that?"

The rest have already gone home at this time as we spent our afternoon away on mundane things. It's just the two of us now before nighttime hits, _which is why we're having this conversation now_.

"It should be fine if it's just me....." she answered without looking away. "I've carefully crafted all the steps ahead of time. It will be a waste that I didn't make use of it. Besides, it's expected of me to make this kind of things...."

" _We never asked you to do this_....." I corrected her. "Nobody did. Everything here is all by your hands. And I don't want to hear you cry about it once you're getting overwhelmed by it...."

"Look who's talking! Aren't you the whiny one out of three of us?"

"I'm talking about the present now! Don't bring up the past!!" I tried to act tough but I can feel my face heat up from those embarrassingly weak moments.

"Geez, I know I've said that your humane side is a nice thing but I didn't expect it to be really irritating as well...." Sumire sighed. "Say, Eiichi.... if you're really on board with this then can you at least play along like a mannequin for a bit...? They wouldn't like it if you're going to be like that all the time..."

"Now you're telling me to be obedient after telling me off for being a reluctant stone-faced ally? That makes me wanna hit you..!"

"On the arm, my face is an important asset, okay?" With that, I punched her left shoulder to satisfy that need. "Now that's taken care of, there's nothing else you wanted to say, right? I heard from everyone that my mentor dropped by so I'm waiting for any questions that he might have brought up..."

"It's useless...." This isn't an admission of defeat if I knew what will happen after. "No matter what, you will always answer them with a lie anyway and I wouldn't even know if you're being serious about it or not. Because of that, _I don't even know if you're a big deal or just a mimicry of the Ultimate Private Investigator_....."

For once, a startled expression became visible on her face. _Not a fake or mockery of it, the real thing_.

"..... I should have said something about it sooner. _Sorry_...." she sounds regretful about it. "Please forget about my title from now on. I'm tired of it already. I want this to be the last time I get to play along before the end....."

"Hey..... _are you the Ultimate Private Investigator or not?_ " I asked her one more time for clarity' sake.

" _Who knows_. I've dragged things for too long until I forgot about a lot of things...." she answered in her own words. "Everyone's free to see what fits them. I'm just here to keep them fulfilled with whatever vision they have of me. And just like that, everything about myself has lost its meaning....."

Due to the reliance of everyone's speculations about the mysterious young investigator, it's hard to discern which is facts or rumours at that point already.

"It will upset a lot of people if I did something that seemed out of the ordinary for me. It would be even disastrous if they bring my mentor's name in it...." she continued. "Ah, it's too tiring, meeting everyone's expectations has been exhausting for these past few years...."

Slowly, she let her head rest against the pillow behind her. She's been talking with that dull tone in her voice, "..... Hey, this is your last chance. Just run away from all of this while you still can. If you did, you don't have to feel any disappointment at all. _Go and live a more satisfying life than being chained to some identity you were never happy with_...."

......

She always does this; aiming for the weak point in someone else's struggle. It's the quickest way for her to convince anyone to give up immediately. It's one of the reasons why she went ahead and gather information on others first, _for this kind of moment_.

......

 _I refused to back down like this_.

"No way, even if you say that....." I refuted back. "You've already made me feel frustrated with you. _Pay it back_ , then I will mind my own business after that....."

"..... Are you serious? If you are then I really want to punch you right now...." Her eyebrow twitched in annoyance. She then threw the cover over her as she groans in frustration. "Ahhh! Fine!! Do whatever you like!! Don't go whining after me for not telling you to scram off!!"

"Look who's being stubborn now...." I couldn't help it but let out a small laugh. Inappropriate to do that now but this seriously reminds me of our old usual talk. "Then see it this way; ' _I'm just helping a friend out who made me realized about a lot of things that I didn't before'_. See my aid as another payment for that...."

Sumire didn't give any reply to that so I take it as my cue to leave now that she's not in the mood to continue the conversation. I said my farewell and left the room without a hurry, now that my conscience is clearer than ever.

........

........

" _Another payment_ , huh......" the investigator sat up straight in her bed, repeating the words of the spy earlier. "Why does he feel that indebted to me, I don't get it. He's the one being dragged into this mess and now he's willing to risk his life for it again without a purpose...."

A wave of nausea struck her as she immediately clutched onto her head, noises ringing in her ears even when she tried to block them out. As the moment passed, she slowly laughed at herself, at what just happened.....

" ** _Ah, so this is what true despair feels like_**...."


	28. XXVII. Cacophony III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As their planning stage finally finished, slowly, the curtains are starting to raise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !! TW !!  
> Mentions of cults and suicide!!
> 
> ____________
> 
> Reminder for this [poll](https://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?p=5ec7928de4b018b4d5fdec0c) to vote your fav chara just for fun! (Extended till 25th August!!)
> 
> Updates will be posted on [twitter](https://twitter.com/dr_mdst)! So give a follow if you want some heads-up or updates on the next chapter or project!!

Our hospital visit went on as uneventful as it can be.... _with others around_.

Due to our last class visit, the staff gave us a very strict rule that even the slightest of disturbance will be enough to get kick us out. And so, _a_ _certain harbinger of disaster_ will have to restrain themselves for now.

"Sumi! Once you're out of here, let me, _the Wild Chemist Beautician,_ fix up your appearance as soon as possible!!" Mitsuru eagerly suggested one day. "You will be discharged right before our graduation day, right? Which means you have a few days left at the academy!! There's no way I'm letting the infamous Ultimate Private Investigator look all drained and lifeless!!"

"Forget about it, Mitsun...." Higura shook his head. "You're wasting your time since nobody knew she exists at during our second year. Pretty her up and you will end up making those lame ghost stories come true...."

" _Oh my? Has my existence finally been acknowledged by our designer here?_ "

" _You're still a punchable human. Don't go chummy with the dead, you shitty medium_..."

"Still, I'm really glad!!" Hiroshi threw his arms up. "All of us get to be together at the graduation ceremony!! Ah... _excluding one person that is_...."

' _Nothing change with Nara.... but she's not getting worst either..._ ' That's the only good thing so far. _'Shino says no to fret over her too much but that's her words. I can't put too much faith in it at this point....'_

"Cheer up...!" Kiharu patted the abseiler's back. "She will wake up soon!! And then it will be a huge shock to her that everyone has grown a little without her around!! _How about we trick her thinking she's been sleeping for a long time and pretend we're the descendants of her ex-classmates?!_ "

" _Oho! Sounds good!! Mitsun, you in!?_ "

_"Anything exciting that requires facial modification always got my attention!!"_

_"Hey, you fuckers better not cause any more trouble!!!"_

_'So much for keeping it down.....'_ I watched as another argument goes down between the four of them this time. So does the investigator who just laughed at every jab they threw at each other.

.....

Something uneasy rest in my stomach, right after my last visit, _'Shino's well right now but.... is it me or is she acting a lot more like that ghostwriter...?'_

.....

The investigator must have placed another curse on me. The last curse she placed on me was about trusting someone (the reason why I'm here right now because I placed my trust in really awful people). The curse that I'm referring to is.......

...... _predicting the worst will come unintentionally_.

* * *

"...... and that's the gist of it....." the investigator ended her explanation just around evening. "So, how is it? If you like, I can make another correction... though, at this point, they're getting agitated with my constant revisions for the past few months....."

"I think it's wonderful!!" the bane of my existence is here, just when I mentioned her some time ago.  _ Ishimoto Nao, the Ultimate Ghostwriter _ . She paraded around when she got called by Sumire earlier, "Sounds kind of romantic!!  _ Getting rid of the bad apples in our class and the survivors being crowned victorious!! _ Now that's a convincing story for everyone to believe in!!"

Right now, there are only six people in the room including Shino and I;  _ Taiga, Nao, Amane and Hinako,  _ **_ our unfortunate substitutes _ ** _. Four Ultimate students that attracted The Genesis' attention. _

For the past few months, Sumire has been listing names for them,  _ names of our classmates _ . We talked over them in great details,  _ knowing well what they're being chosen for _ .

It's still unnerving hearing all of this going down with them around now, who never had any importance to us since the first semester. 

"Thank goodness, I can finally get them off my back about it at least...." Sumire heavily sighed while carelessly throw away a bunch of papers. "With teacher making the final preparation behind the scene, that should be it. Any questions? Please fire them away as quickly as possible so that I can finally get my well-deserved rest...." 

"We appreciate your willingness to let us decide where our stances are, however....." Amane seemed to be struggling to say something, "...... is it alright for you to speak of this matter so carelessly with us out in the open? Especially under surveillance as Eiichi told us before...." 

"The whole building has been partially seized by Hinako's family...." the animal behaviourist gave a nod as a confirmation, ".... and those bastards don't really care if I say them out loud or not,  _ all they want are results _ ...."

"It's a careless chess game between us and them, right?" Nao smiled as she glances right at me. "I would have never imagined teaming up with Eiichi in the end for a vision I've been working hard for...."

"Like hell, I'm not doing this for you...." I return that gaze with a heated glare. "It's Shino's plan, don't do anything off or else I will off your head myself...."

"Whoa, scary!!" the ghostwriter snickers. 

"Eii-chan, if you're going for the bickering child act in this then no doubt you will be the first one to be off anyways....." the investigator talked me down. "..... Sorry, everyone. If there were any other ways around it, I would have gladly taken it so that no one else would have to be involved in it....." 

" _ Spare the kindness, Miss. Investigator _ ...." Amane started. "Is it not your duty to keep them at bay? If such a requirement also needs people like us to act on it then I would have gladly given myself up. _ They can nail me to a tree to their heart's content if they want to _ ...." 

"Mane, really, ease down with the absurdity you're picturing right now....." Sumire replied. "It's a simple request..... _ an alluring piece that only the Ultimate Composer would make _ ...."

"As a form of distraction during our graduation? Understood, I would try and make it as memorable as it can be....." the composer quickly agreed to it. " _ Perhaps, it's a perfect way to be recognised _ ...."

"Nako-"

"Yes, yes, I understand my part....." Hinako cuts her off. "My family will help those people who will escort us safely after the planned....  _ unfortunate incident at the hotel _ . Any attempts in solving the mystery behind that incident will be met with someone knocking on their doors...." 

That's two people already understand their parts.  _ Nao already did hers since the beginning so she's just enjoying herself now _ . What makes me more worried about this is...

"Taiga, how about you....?" I glimpsed over at the marksman who's been quiet this entire time. ".... If you want to back out-"

"No way!! I'm going all-in for this!!" the marksman suddenly sprung back to life when I offer him that chance. "I..... wanted to repay for what Sumi did for us back then. It's a bit scary but I will do my best.... they just needed something with a timer that will set off during the ceremony right? I think I have some materials for that...."

"The same thing that happened during our first  _ Ultimate Cultural Festival _ ...." The investigator brought back the moment where we found some sort of detonated timer in one of the classrooms that released some sort of gas. "With everyone's help.... this won't fail....." 

All of the sudden, she almost fell forward, even if she's sitting up in her bed as if something's dragging her down. I tried to catch her before she managed herself, "I'm getting really tired now. Please let me rest before teacher annoyed me about the list again..... Eii-chan, please come back once he leaves. The more I talked with him, the more I really wanted to get rid of the nonsense he keeps spouting..." 

"Noted. Another addition to your evergrowing  _ 'get-well-soon' _ gifts...." the composer hand over some sort of small wooden music box to the investigator. "A lullaby for tonight... I've been experimenting with short yet serene songs with a certain individual that's interested in selling them...." 

"Thanks, Mane. If I actually feel restless tomorrow then it's considered a success...!"

With that matter between the two of them, the rest of us left the room, leaving them with their business discussion. I caught up to Taiga before he joined Hinako and Nao, "Say, Tai.... you sure you're okay with this? There's.... a slim chance that it might fail still...."

"Ah, Eiichi....." Taiga was startled when I asked him about it but he recovered quickly. "I'm fine, really!! Well.... pops' getting better as well and that he's beginning to take care of himself now. Despite that, I haven't thanked Sumi enough for her help as well...."

"She doesn't need that gratitude...." Similar to how investigator Iwao sees his clients. Only there to solve the case, not to receive any praises. _ Well, it's a half-truth when it comes to Sumire _ . "Even you're doing it because of that, it will still be useless at the end...."

"....... Say, Eiichi.... this is a weird question but... " Taiga asked, " _ Have you ever thought about people in cults? _ "

"Huh..? Umm, not really...?" Why did he bring that kind of subject out of nowhere? "They never crossed my mind...."

"I've only heard some stories about them from my mother before she left pops but...." the marksman mentioned his mother for the first time about a really touchy subject. "But so long as there are many people believed in such a person to be more righteous than anyone else on Earth, that person will remain on top no matter what. And to protect that fantasy of theirs, they won't hesitate to get violent.  _ Have you ever compared them to The Genesis in any way? _ "

Ah, so it's like that. "At some degree, yes...." 

"That's why my mind automatically thought of cults when Sumire told us about them...." Taiga explained. "Desperate to find true despair that they have to make one themselves. It's no different than finding a leader to serve, right? If they ever held her up so high that she became untouchable...  _ she would instruct them to end themselves _ ..."

If she can even maintain herself mentally until that point. Lately, she becoming more unhinged as months passed by. 

"As long as people believed that she will be their Ultimate Despair, that possibility can still happened butt...." _ here's the real kicker here _ , " _ If she also believed in it then it's an entirely different story _ ....."

"It's really a huge loss for both side no matter how you look at it...." Taiga sighed. "Well, can't be helped. All we can do is to be seen as being indebted to her and became like some sort of followers to fool them. _ As long as The Genesis believed that, they wouldn't doubt Sumire at all _ ...."

_ Like a cult _ .

It's a frightening comparison but it's similar in some ways.  _ Even before deciding that she will become their Ultimate Despair, she already influenced a lot of people.  _

"Oh yeah... about that ' _ dream _ ' that she's talking about...." Taiga continued. "Do you have any idea what's that about?"

"Somehow but not too sure about it..."

That ' _ dream _ ' was something she experienced, that ' _ treatment _ ' she went through with the other four instructors in the _ Neo World Program _ . 

_ Something about rewriting characteristics or memories _ . 

_ 'I met a rather annoying blonde girl with a creepy long-haired red-eyed demon... they have interesting stories to tell....' _ that's all that the investigator told us about what happened afterwards. 

' _ And from there on is when she started acting off _ .....' The gap between the last time I've seen her and right now made it obvious. I tried my best to ignore it before she would even throw her usual insult at me. 

"Heeeey, Eiichi...!"

The marksman flicked my forehead to get my attention. "I will be leaving now, okay? If you got any problem then feel free to see me!! We're both in this together!!"

"....  _ You really know what to say here, huh _ ...." 

* * *

"There are chances of them surviving.... but that's still up to you to decide....." Sumire started. " _ If you even know how to _ ...."

After the investigator had her talk with the teacher whom I disregarded when he left the room, we decided to have a short talk before I leave for the evening. 

"You never make things easy for me...." I grimaced. "If only you give me the crucial steps that would help him a lot later....."

"Huh? Don't you remember your curse here?? _ 'Careful who you trust'? _ " she reminded of that faithful day. "How much trust do you have in my words here exactly? I never said it's a guaranteed method so it's too rash to immediately listen to what I have to say about it...." 

" _ So that curse will carry over to the killing game as well...? _ "

" _ Once cast, it will never go away _ ......" she explained. "See it as some sort of test to get through.  _ I thought it would work great as a warning but guess not _ ...."

" _ In what sense that it will work like that? It sounds more like a threat instead _ ...."

" _ Ah, that's actually much better!! _ "

" **_ For you, not us _ ** ...."

".... Still.... you don't have to fault yourself if things don't go as planned...." Sumire chuckles. "It's still a fantasy wish, after all, our dear classmates have their own thoughts and feelings. Even if everything falls perfectly in place, there's always that setback that we don't expect..."

" _ You're just saying that so that you finally have that chance to scold me again for my carelessness are you? _ "

_ "Probably!!" _

_ "Shino...." _

"I'm being honest....." Sumire giggles. ".... Let me have this moment of peace, alright? Since I'm going to be discharged in two days and there's still another three days left till graduation..... this might be the last time you will get to see me like this....." 

".... Not sure if you can tell but I feel really glad about it...."  **_ Lie _ ** . "But after spending the whole two years with you and Nara.....  _ I guess something did change within me _ ..."

"We didn't do anything... you've just realized it way too late...." she corrected. "Blank slates or not, I have a huge distaste towards people wasting their life away without a purpose..... and I hope this is really your true purpose, Eiichi...."

" _ That's not the words of a true  _ **_ Ultimate Despair  _ ** _ there, Shino _ ....." I smirked. "You should act more cruelly towards your subjects....."

"Right, I must keep acting...." Sumire cleared her throat as she continued. "... Before that... let's continue... this mindless talk for now.... before the big day...."

".... Sure...." I agreed to stay for a while, sitting on the nearby chair. "If you like, I can tell you more about my family since... well, I cut ties with them a long time ago so they might have already forgotten about me...." 

"Seriously?" the investigator's eyes widened in surprise. "This is a rare chance..! Ah, such a blessing this moment is...!!"

"Just be quiet, I'm finally opening up to you, don't ruin this chance...." despite my warning, I still smiled. "..... If they were still around.... _ you and my sister would have gotten along really quick _ ...."

_ Distraction _ . Sumire only wanted to continue this conversation just to distract herself from the real thing. Just as I thought,  _ she's still scared _ .  _ '.... If my ignorant self were here instead, he would have laughed at that thought. But I made a promise with Mr. Iwao.....' _

_ For now, please let us have this selfish moment in peace. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "The encore draws nearer....."


	29. XXVIII. Encore!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Encore! Encore!! One last encore before the night falls!!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a double update with the epilogue already up!!  
> I'm finally free from this-
> 
> ____________
> 
> Reminder for this [poll](https://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?p=5ec7928de4b018b4d5fdec0c) to vote your fav chara just for fun! (Extended till 25th August!!)
> 
> Updates will be posted on [twitter](https://twitter.com/dr_mdst)! So give a follow if you want some heads-up or updates on the next chapter or project!!

Our last remaining days at the academy went by too quickly that I didn't get to enjoy them as much as I can.

From my classmates' perspective, it went by as orderly as it can be, _our last mundane days together_. After the _Ultimate Private Investigator_ got discharged from the hospital, Taiga and Hiroshi took that as a waiting chance to throw a _farewell party_ that acts as a _welcome back greeting_ as well.

With our psychologist teacher as our supervision of the whole planning, everything went well, _perfectly before our_ ** _graduation day_**.

....

........

...........

........

....

"Never would I have imagined an opportunity like this would fall onto my lap after a string of bad luck......" Hisao chuckles, twirling around in his swivel chair.

In the middle of the party, teacher and I retreated to the Counsellor's Room to discuss.... _about other important things before the big day_.

"What a cruel twist of fate..... after months of retaliation, they dare give me this delicious offer that I couldn't resist, _what a bunch of dastardly bastards_...."

"The same bastards whom you're still working with from the start...." I chimed in with that jab. "Your efforts in trying to slow their process doesn't mean jack-shit when you're still helping them....."

" _Show total resistance and it's your end already settled_......." the psychologist scoffed. "Even if I tried not to, they still have ways to weaved together indestructible connections through this academy. _Don't forget, they managed to get both of the strongest party, that this academy partnered with, under their belt_. With an advantage like that, they can get away with anything already....."

_The Hanabusa Family and the Hoshino Investigators._

"They're still not safe from the Future Foundation but at this point, they shouldn't worry about them at all....." he shrugged. "They got away scot-free because of them... it's useless to be dependant on a group like that. Who knows, _maybe they already infiltrated their fortress as well_....."

I don't want my distaste for those possibilities to be seen by this guy; _the fact that all the obvious blind spots went unnoticed by that foundation just makes me detest them even more_.

' _But that didn't matter anymore. There more I protested, the more of a fool I'm making myself out to be...._ ' There's no reason to do it anymore, it' just sounds like I'm being a sore loser in the end.... _which I already am_.

" _Have you begun your self-loathing monologue already? That's fast... I've only stated a clear reason or two....._ "

 _The nerve of this guy, seriously!_ "No, I'm just ignoring you....."

" _Don't even think that I can accept a pathetic answer like that_....." Hisao smirked. "Being a _Former Ultimate Psychologist_ has its perks. I worked hard to study my clients carefully, to the point it just came to me effortlessly. Predicting my colleague's secretive way regarding our social conducts & research also became natural to me so _it's futile to hide things from me_....."

" _That's it! I'm calling Shino!!_ "

"Wait, no!! I don't want to get scolded by that tyrant again!!" _That alone can make him whined_. "Ugh, you're too uptight.... why can't you let me examined you just for a second?"

"Haven't you done that to Shino already? When will it be enough for you to finally stop messing with your students?" I shook my head. "Just what's making you act so disturbing?"

" _Call it extreme curiosity_ , I don't have a perfect word for it. I've been surrounded by boring things until I got recognized as an _Ultimate_...." the psychologist exclaimed. "From there on, _I got intrigued to learn more about an Ultimate's psyche_. Since there's not a single _Ultimate_ that would imitate or be the same as others... it's a perfect starting point to start my experiment on what's yet to be understood by other normal psychologists!!"

" _That's such a normal reason for someone like you!!_ "

Not really, but after hearing countless extreme reasonings, _this one has a weak impact_.

" _Don't call me normal!!_ " he scolded. "Attaching normalcy with an Ultimate isn't a winning combination!! Don't ever accuse me of normalcy again!!"

That contradicts what Investigator Iwao said about _Ultimates_ before. _About putting them on higher pedestals and such,_ "Is it wrong to think about it like that?"

"According to my moral code, I'm forced to say ' _no_ ' but....." the psychologist brought up his point, "..... if it's like that then _why separate us from them in the first place_? Sometimes, I wonder what's the first thing that popped into the Hope's Peak founder's mind when they first discovered these Ultimates. Ah, whatever, the dead won't talk and I wouldn't be here if they weren't discovered. I would end up being boring and dead in a ditch somewhere if it didn't happen at all!!"

"Ahhhh, _you're seriously the worst of the bunch_....." Everything he said doesn't make sense at all, as I let out a deep sigh. "If only Shino allow me to beat you up, just once... _I wouldn't have any regrets left_....."

" _So I became everyone's target practice lately_....." Hisao brought up his misfortunes that happened for that past few weeks. "If you're that pessimistic about it then I can allow you to mess with either of us during the _Experimental Killing Game!_ Seeing you trying to navigate your way would serve as a fun practice for me _while playing as the host!!_ "

"Impossible, did you forget?" I reminded him. " _We will be strangers towards each other once we stepped onto that place_....."

"True.... true...... **_but I wouldn't be too sure about that_**....."

The psychologist got up and went towards the door, ready to leave before he turned around with a slight smirk on his face, "Since you're going to play as an actual human in our next game, mind if you show me how humane you've become so far? I didn't get a real good glimpse into your real psyche so I hope you show them soon...."

" _Can't you at least wish for something ordinary that I can do?_ " Something like that is hard to achieve, I've just regained some senses only a few weeks ago.

" ** _I hate ordinary stuff_**......" he replied earnestly. " ** _We're Ultimates_** , **_aren't we?_** We're supposed to make and act out of the norm.... so would you kindly let your wild and absurd feelings out for a personal examination? _Please and thank you!_ "

Without a hint of guilt in his voice, the psychologist immediately left the room, probably going back to our classmates in their farewell party.

After making sure he's way out of the vicinity, I let out a sigh and fell back onto the sofar behind, resting my head for a while.

' _Teacher's been saying weird stuff all the time.... ever since that Neo World Program thing that they're forced to go through..... did he thought about this special diagnosis because of what happened during that time...? Like Shino...?_ '

Those never specify about these two absurd people they met in the program but they gave us a vague description of them - _an annoying blondie and a melancholic long-haired, red-eyed young man_.

And the impact they made on the investigator and psychologist.... _has a huge difference_.

 _Mafuyu Hisao_ , the _Former Ultimate Psychologist_ , talked about them as if they're the one inspiring him to be the spectator of this killing game. Concocting up breakthroughs and results that would satisfy his curiosity _for years_.

Meanwhile, _Hoshino Sumire_ , the _Ultimate Private Investigator_ , despise them a lot. As I quoted her time in there; _"One keeps flapping their mouth about useless things while the other keeps on predicting stuff that it became tiring and annoying to hear them out all the time!! I managed to give one good kick and that's it!!"_

It's the usual objection of hers, until the last line that caught me off-guard; _"They predicted everything, everything that has to do with The Genesis and us. Who would have thoughts by letting me meet those two, merging our ideals, it would make a perfect recipe for the_ ** _Ultimate Despair_** _they're looking for. But I won't let them,_ ** _I won't let them get that satisfaction_** _....."_

And as her final act of defiance, _that's when Nara's virus was let loose and started destroying the program, frying the system from the inside_. _Nothing was spared, everything was annihilated by that sole virus._

With the failure of the Neo World Program plan as it was rendered useless for _The Genesis'_ next kidnapping spree, they despaired at their work being destroyed so swiftly.

However, that's the problem here; **_they despaired_**. It still gives them despair, the motivation to continue their malicious deeds no matter how hard it hits them. Instead, _they crave for it even more than before_.

 _'No matter what we do, they refused to give up.....'_ They're the most persistent bug I've ever encounter. ' _If Shino even tries to go against them again, would they finally admit defeat....? How much stronger their will to live is compared to their insatiable appetite for despair?_ '

 ** _Desire_** _is the most dangerous and unfathomable thing_.

"How terrible- _Ackh!?_ "

Just when I said a word into the real world, I got smacked in the head by an intruder. I don't need to see who it is as I just scolded them, " _Wouldn't you at least snapped me out of it first!?_ "

"I did but you didn't budge for five minutes....." replied the intruder, _Hoshino Sumire_. "And when I told you I'm gonna use _the peek-a-boo_ method, you gave that answer and so I hit you in retaliation...."

I grumbled, covering the sore spot of my head, "I was.... _daydreaming_... it's rude to wake someone up like that, you idiot....!"

"You've been doing that a lot since our first semester...." said Sumire. "Hmmm... how does the phrase go again? ' _Drunken life, dreamy death'_ or something along like that?"

".... _'Idling one life's away'?_ " Is that what she's looking for?

"Right, that....." she snapped her fingers. "Don't daydream too much, you won't accomplish anything in that way. It's been a while since I heard that from Uncle Rai so I wasn't too sure if I got it right...."

I won't argue against that, _I did muse a lot and more often than before_. I rarely think twice in my actions, consequences and how I would lead my way of life after a task.

_Those daydreams... happened more frequently after meeting Sumire and Nara._

"Anyways, I came here to pick you up....." the investigator poked my forehead. "Don't you wanna join them? They've been looking for you and there's already a war declared over the sweets...."

"I would rather wait till the bloodshed is over...." _This class is unbelievable when it comes to sweet treats_.

" _It's your favourite fruit tarts_....."

" ** _I'm going_**....." _Damn my weak defiance towards those fruit tarts!!_ "Shino, as a favour for making me go through all the bullshit you've caused, _I want you to help me go through this_...."

"No way, in your dreams....." Sumire quickly rejected that idea. "Shoma and Taiga are in this battle, I don't want to hurt them at all...."

Those two serves as her specific weaknesses; _a childhood friend and a tough rival respectively_. It's a hidden secret within our class that we often use against her as some sort of trap ( _ironically for her, hah._..).

"Deal with it, you've caused me this much pain...." _Two years worth of pain_ , I mean, not the pain from when she hit me earlier. " _Might as well experienced it in ten-fold and at the same time_....."

"Ugh, I don't want to be exhausted right before _**our graduation day**_...."

I stopped in my tracks, I was about to turn the doorknob right as she said that, ' _Right... today's..... our last ordinary day....._ '

"Hey, Shino....." I called out to her. "If by a miracle, we made it out safely.... what are you going to do after this?"

" _Huh? What with that all of the sudden?_ "

"Earlier, during the partly.... everyone was talking about their plans for the future....." _About travelling_ , mostly. _Hiroshi and Kiharu, Amane and Hibiki_ , both duos made plans to travel the whole world together. They didn't even make it as a possibility, _they see it as more of a promise_.

".... _I've never thought about it that far ahead_....." Sumire confessed right away. " _Probably nothing at all_...... I don't think such a future exist for someone like me so, in the meantime, _I'm gonna have to play as someones' favourite till they get bored of me_..... _aren't you like that as well?_ "

Back when I was still obedient towards the spymaster. Well, it's safe to say that bond is good as gone now, "I have a goal now so you're the only one stuck with that mindset...."

" _Which is....?_ "

This is so cliche to say.

" _I want to reunite with my sister again_....." It's been too long since I've last seen her. "I want to see her again.... to make sure if she's doing okay without her reliable brother around. And if I can, _I want to introduce her to you_..... unless she's still lacking in manners, that is...."

_Hey, Hiroshi's not the only who have bothersome relatives to look after from a long distant._

" _If you're the older brother then it would just be a hassle to meet her_..."

" _Hey, don't insult her like that, she can sense that from afar_...."

"Don't get your hope too high for it, _I won't last that long_...." she decided to leave as well. "Come on, let's go.... _this will be the last time we will have an outing together before the big day_....."

" _Yeah_...." _She never has hope for her future at all_.

"It's a ' _one life, one encounter type'_ of thing...." Sumire chuckles. " _Cherish it as much as possible before everything goes wrong_...."

The time I spent with Nara and Sumire is something I already cherished a lot. _Hangouts with Renma and Shoma, getting through ridiculous shit with Taiga and Hiroshi, helping Higura and Homare to settle our class down_.... _all those kinds of stuff_.

_They're all precious moments that I hold dear to my heart._

_Memories that I enjoyed creating with them, my dear classmates._

......

But.... once I stepped out of the academy' grounds.....

......

**_Those memories will be gone in a heartbeat_**.

* * *

"As expected, a full house...... all of these people are here to see **_the graduation of the Yumeino Ultimate Academy's 50th Class_**....."

"Must they make a big deal out of it....? Seriously, shitty things like this aren't necessary..."

"It's like looking for future prospectors, _finding the gold within the graduates_...."

"Yeah, yeah, they're that greedy- _What the fuck!? What's that good-for-nothing father thinking!? Showing off my work without permission, I will get him-!!"_

"Hira, _shush_...." Homare covered up the designer's mouth as she dragged him away from the curtains. "Can't you be more civil on our last day here..? Look, they're trying to take a peek now because of your ruckus..."

" _Let them then, I don't give a shit!!_ " He growled behind the fencer's hands. "At least it's a payback at whatever my shitty father's trying to do here!! I won't forgive him for being an embarrassment..!!!"

Saku and Mitsuru did their job as they calmed down the fiery graphic designer as they dragged him even further from the stage. Once again, another noisy scene started by our class on _this_ ** _graduation night_**.

' _It's happening_.....' _where our days of oblivious youth will come to an end._

While everyone's already expressing their goal and future, completely ignorant of an incoming tragedy, I can't help but be shaken by **_fear_** right now instead.

It's pretty noticeable when Renma ended up giving me a reassuring pat on the back while Shoma clings onto me from the front. I don't have it in me to be bothered by their actions here, I ended up laughing at their attempt to console their scared friend, "... Sorry, you two... guess after all of that... _I'm still a bit scared_....."

"This **_graduation_** of ours is nothing to be afraid of...." Renma spoke up first. "Even in death, we cannot predict what lies ahead of us. _However, do not fear the unknown, for what kind of end that awaits us... will surely benefit others in strangest ways...."_

"Seriously, I don't need to hear that from someone like you...!"

"My apologies, _force of habit_...." the medium chuckles. "But do dare not forget that it's by our will to provide lend a hand to you and Sumi. After all, it would also be against my promise with her that I would leave you in your darkest moments....."

" _Hehehe, like the ghost whisperer said_...." Shoma exclaimed happily. "We're in the same school, critter helps other critters out...! This critter and the _little star_ wants to look after our _luckster_ as much as we could... we, critters, wanna protect _luckster_ from terrible things...!"

" _You two_...."

Without even thinking, I hugged them both, catching them off-guard. Renma went completely stiff and confused for a moment there while Shoma easily accepted it as he hugs back. I buried my face in both of their shoulders.

_I... really needed this._

_I want this to last for a while._

_It's been so long since I had this kind of comfort before._

_"Ah..!! No fair!! We wanna join in as well!!"_

I felt an extra weight being added onto my back as a flash of something purple passed by, "How rude...! _This is everyone's graduation_ , you know!! You should include everyone else!!"

"Our little Eii-chan here is a bit nervous so we're trying our best to console him first then the others...." the medium gave his explanation to the cosmetologist. " _We will initiate the group therapy soon enough_...."

"I would rather not be in any group that includes you as a host, _both leadership speaking and spiritually_...." Higura seemed to finally calm down with Saku following behind him. "........ _Just don't forget about us, dammit_...."

"Dearie me, did I hear Hira being honest right now? _The world's doomed_...." Machi teased the now flustered graphic designer who can't fight back due to the aerobat holding him back. " _Makkun_..... do your best to lift their spirits up.... you're the oldest, _bless them with good fortune_...."

" _You're sounding more like my wife now, Macchan._.."

" _Shut up and do your job as the oldest here, you shitty slacker_...."

"Hey!! I don't want to intentionally crash this heartfelt farewell here but we're up next, guys!!" Kiharu interrupted. "We can continue after the speech by our amazing class president, _Takara Homare_!! Please inspire us to do great things in the future, prez!!"

" _Don't you usually fell asleep in the middle of it?_ " Homare asked. "I hope you stay awake for this one...."

" _No chances at all!!_ "

"Come on now, Haru...." Hiroshi pulled back the archaeologist by her shirt. "You're putting a bad image if you do that, I don't wanna be the next _Sakkun_ here...."

" _Hey, why is my name being used as a negative subject here!?_ "

"A telltale reasoning of what not to become...." Hinako giggles. "Using someone else as an example would encourage everyone to not follow in their footsteps!"

"That's right!!" Higura beamed at the aerobat being dragged around. "Don't be like that air-headed idiot!! Be better!!"

" _Gura!!_ "

"It has been two minutes since we're told to stand-by and we've already descended into berating each other....." Amane sighed. "If this happens more in the future then I have no hope for this classless class at all...." 

"Ahaha... ha..... but it's very like them!!" Nao replied while forcing out a laugher. "Two years went by and nothing changes at all!!"

"Being stagnant isn't a bad thing, Amane, you should know that by now....." that statement from the opera singer made the composer look away quickly. "However, he's right about the stand-by thing.... everyone, please lined up and get ready once we're being called up...." 

And just like that, everyone dispersed. Mitsuru quickly gets off and latched herself onto Higura and Saku, laughing at their flustered reactions. Nao, Hibiki and Amane currently chatting away while waiting, as well as Kiharu and Hiroshi still planning their adventure. 

_'... We're missing some people but.... they probably need this free time to themselves.....'_ I noticed our missing classmates from the roster.

I finally let go of Renma and Shoma, almost shocked by something dripping down the side of my face, ' _Ah... again it happened..._.'

"There, there....!!" the marine biologist uses his sleeve to wipe it off. "Critters should be joyful for this occasion...! If luckster's happy then everyone's happy...!"

".... _I hope you guys can get through this nightmare at the end_....." I smiled at his words. "... _You guys deserved a better chance than this_...."

The announcer went to the backstage to confirm our lineup for the next segment of the night. The fencer immediately went upfront for her speech with the rest following behind her. Renma and Shoma didn't get to say their final lines but I already know what they're going to say anyway; 

_"We hope the same goes to you as well...."_

Those two has always been sweet on others, including me.

.......

**_Ah, how badly off their prediction is._ **

****

"Don't just stand there, you will get scolded again...." Someone pushed me ahead and stood by my side. "Pause your daydreams for now... the real thing's starting soon......"

"Let's give it our best, Eii-chan!!" Another person joined in from the other side. "I'm sure.... everyone will do fine...!!"

" _Now where exactly have you two been?_ " I turned my attention to the private investigator and marksman. " _A secret rendezvous?_ " 

"I thought I could settle one last remaining loose thread...." Sumire replied. "Now, everyone's problems are settled...."

"Kinda got dumped completely...!" Taiga laughs. "Such a shame but not like I was expecting much!! I will be joining you guys soon!!"

He waved us back as he joined back the group, alongside Kiharu and Hiroshi. 

"..... Hey, Shino.... do you feel guilty after seeing all of that?"

"It is what it is....."

"Do you think things could have gone better if we tried harder enough?"

"We could give it our best shot and we would still fail..... we just happened to choose one of the worst possible plans to go with...." 

"But do you still believe that.... _our chances of survival are there?_ "

"Well, that depends on their actions now..... after this, I have no control over anyone else anymore...." She smirked. "And that includes you, Eiichi..... I will be seeing you soon, _hope that I would get to enjoy the act you've decided to put up for me to enjoy_...." 

" _You wouldn't be able to witness it yourself_....." _You're not going to be the same person that I will meet later._

Sumire held out her hand and I accepted her invitation. I always did it with hesitation and worries before, but now, _I accepted it with my full intent of trusting her_. 

After all, _we only have each other to blame and understand our faults_. 

" _I will see you soon too, Shino... I hope you would recognize me a bit_..."

_I want to have more of those ridiculous talks that we always had before._

_They're the reasons why I decided to come into terms with myself._

_'I hope I get to talk with you more like that again, Shino....'_

And so together, we stepped onto the stage...

_...._

_........_

_**The show has just started..... let's not disappoint them... shall we?** _

_......_

_....._

_...._

_..._

_._

* * *

**Unbelievable**.

 **_Un-fucking-believable_ ** _!!_

I don't usually curse all the time but this time... _this specific time is an exception and I'm serious about it!!_

 _'Fucking hell, that piece of shit...!'_ I continued to spout out profanities in my mind as I carefully observed my surroundings. The place we're in right now has the same layout as the previous hotel that was blown into smithereens and I was taken by its eerie replications of every single detail in the ceiling. Everything looks exactly the same as if the hotel itself didn't suffer from an explosion.

Oh, but what's wrong? Why am I acting like Higura right now? _Well then, please read the last paragraph carefully._

 _That's right;_ **I somehow have my memories still**.

My memories weren't taken away from me. When I first woke up in the dining area of this place, my mind was a bit foggy and it took me a long time to recover from a groggy nap but in no time, _I was able to recall back the event that transpired months ago._

 _The explosion, our classmates panicked, the strange gas filling up the area that knocked us all unconscious_ -

_Yes, I'm shaken by it but I'm also infuriated about it._

_'I can't believe this kind of error would happen!!! Even that shitty psychologist couldn't help himself but prod about it!!"_

Our psychologist teacher has taken the role of the overseen in this killing game, in a form of a robot AI called, _'Monomyou'_. I have a feeling that teacher is intentionally using a feline robotic body, _as reminiscent of Nara's robotic self_. _I would have decapitated it myself if he weren't so important in this game._

I should be glad that teacher's still kind enough to help me out throughout the game but _he's still having a laugh at my situation right now;_

_"Not sure if you're lucky or really in deep shit right now, there's an error with your pod and so the memory wipe process was a total failure. Something's blocking our access to try it again so we're taking the risk of running you off free as The Genesis did before. Hey, look at the bright side, at least you get to mess with others now that you still have memories of them!! Get them back!! Release your frustrations onto them!!"_

While it's tempting to do that, I asked whether or not if the error was deliberately there or it's just coincidence. _And....._

" _Who knows? You can see it as Sumire's way of trying to drown you in despair or giving you the advantage to escape yourself! But since The Genesis realized this flaw of our plans...._ "

I took a brief look at the bracelet that being clamped around my wrist, remembering back the most crucial rule for it.

_"Better watch out or else you will be a dead man in the first stage. I mean, you can try and find another way out of it- I don't know myself but good luck with it, anyway!! Nyahahaha, let's see how you escape your fate in this killing game, Eiichi!!"_

_... and that's the end of it._

_That's everything I was told before I met up with everyone else._

_I isolated myself first as they stared at me strangely due to my pissed off expression._

"Ugh.... this is so shitty.... why did that have to happen..!!" I muttered angrily. "That idiot..!! _If I can find-_ "

" _Hey, red-haired weirdo!!_ " I can hear the familiar aggressive tone of the graphic designer calling out to me. I alter my appearance slightly to conceal my meek lucky student identity. Thankfully, my hair grew a bit so I let it loose. _Well, it doesn't matter if I change it or not since they wouldn't recognize me._ "Stop whining, we're all in this fucking mess, you're not special at all!! Use that brain of yours to help us out instead of bitching about it!!"

"Shut up already, you're the one that's not doing anything with that mouth of yours...." I snapped back. "I get you're trying to be the tough one here but it's not helping anyone! Besides, we want our ears working well, you know? You're being the biggest threat by making it obvious we're all grouped here, you loudmouthed siren....."

" _Why, you little-!!_ " Before he could jump on me, Saku held him back before he could.

 _'Even with the memory wipe, those two automatically get along....'_ Then the aerobat threw him to the ground to restraint him, _'... I think? Wow, I feel better after doing that. Is this what Shino felt whenever she took the chance with me? Yikes, I've graduated from being a masochist to a sadist, this is bad.....'_

_Ah, speaking of the private investigator._

_Hoshino Sumire,_ the _Ultimate Private Investigator_ , is curiously looking at her ElectroID, seemingly impressed by the little device. She was the last one to arrive and I managed to hold back all of my questions about my state right now before realizing that _she's a completely different person now_.

' _Renma's influence on me still sticks.... the air around here is much more calming.... more refreshing actually...._ ' It's terrifying actually. Her sinister, hostile aura that she's used to be surrounded with completely disappeared. What appears before me, _is a completely normal person who happens to be the Ultimate Private Investigator_.

' _This has to be The Genesis' way of making everyone easily feel despair_.....'

If the killing game started, and they knew about the truth about it way too late, _their spirits will surely be broken by it_. _I pray that their mental fortitude is strong enough to withstand the damage it will cause._

' _That still includes me.... seeing Shino like this took me off guard no matter how much I convinced myself...._ '

I have to stay strong myself, I'm still technically going against Sumire and that psychologist teacher. ' _..... Teacher did say I can mess with them as much as I want as long as I don't break the rules to this bracelet..._ '

 _Which means_...

' _I already pissed off that psychologist by bastardizing his name with a lowly talent....._ ' that decision just filled me with glee even by thinking about it. '.... _I'm taking chance now. It would be a waste for Shino if she's doesn't get the taste of her own medicine sooner_.....'

_I will get decimated by her once she remembered everything in the killing game's final stage._

"Hey there, little miss!!" I sparked up the conversation with a cheerful voice. She flinches as she looks up to me with caution. "It's rather rude of you to leave a gentleman hanging without introducing yourself!! Before you get lost in your imaginary world, how about we exchange our names and titles? Maybe I won't consider robbing you if you do!!"

_Aha... I'm having a bit too much fun with this disguise._

_"..... Hoshino Sumire......"_ She did it with wariness still. " _Ultimate Private Investigator_...."

.....

 _Hah, I got a bit nostalgic a bit there_. This is like the first time we've met when Sumire cornered me with her conman disguise. Now, our roles have been switched..... _and so will our actions in the next acts mirror our previous acts before._

"That's so cool...!" I beamed. "The name's **_Mafuyu Hisao_** _, the_ ** _Ultimate Conman_** _...!_ It would be a pleasure to work with you, little miss!!"

**[** _" **It's nice to work with you again... Shino..."**_ **]**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *'Drunken life, dreamy death' & 'one life, one encounter' are both four kanji idioms like the title of the first chapter for the main story.


	30. XXIX. Epilogue: Curtain Time!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "With our story finally been told, a new foretold insight from the eyes of three...."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it finally ends-!!
> 
> ____________
> 
> Reminder for this [poll](https://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?p=5ec7928de4b018b4d5fdec0c) to vote your fav chara just for fun! (Extended till 25th August!!)
> 
> Updates will be posted on [twitter](https://twitter.com/dr_mdst)! So give a follow if you want some heads-up or updates on the next chapter or project!!

_So yeah... that's the whole story._

_One big shitty story about three assholes who mess things up over trivial reasons._

_An investigator with no identity, a psychologist with no heart and a spy with no resolution at all._

_Got all of the story parts in your head? Good, because none of these stories will ever be heard or known by anyone else other than ourselves..._

I almost impressed myself with how I was able to evolve from a cold-hearted spy to a meek lucky student who might piss himself whenever he's in a tight spot.

I would applaud myself for acting differently..... _if it was really an act in the first place_. 

Two years acting like one did a number on how I view things or even think about how my actions impact on the people I befriended along the way.

It would have been nice if I managed by two years without knowing them at all. _Or that the machine actually wiped my memories for this killing game._

Then, I wouldn't even consider all the stuff our classmates did to each other to be cruel or anything. I would have just wiped my hands clean and said, ' _Well they get what's coming for them!'_ and treated as if it's none of my business to care.

Well, guess what; _I ended up having the heart to care about those people_.

On one hand, I always had a feeling that this is Sumire's way of punishing me. With my memories intact, I'm forced to witness how out previous close classmates endlessly murder each other for the so-called _'greater good'_ and _'for their own desires'_ when nothing is waiting for them in the end. **_It's the close-shut end for them no matter where they go_**.

If she still has that Ultimate Despair personality within her, _this might be her way to drag me down into despair..._

On the other hand _,_ maybe this is another way to survive this killing game _._ There was a way.... **_until the first killing happened_**. Right there, it's when the killing game set in motion, moving forward without stopping at all.

It's tough really... trying to interfere as much as possible with others sneering at me for doing things that they think could get them killed by accident.

It would have been alright for me to be treated like dirt, I'm getting used to it after two years. And yet... _it's still painful_.

 **_Remembering everything is painful_ ** _..._

 _I wish I could actually forget about them to make this job easier but at the same time..._ ****

**_I don't wanna forget them_ ** _._

' _Hah... at least.... this is a blessing.... at least I will die with my memories still_...'

And now, _Mafuyu Hisao_ , the _Ultimate Conman_ or _Rei_ , will die a painful slow death, as a mockery of the two masterminds behind this killing game. I've already pissed off teacher while imitating him, after this, I will surely make Sumire mad once she sees what I've done to this place and everyone else.

......

It's really ruthless... that I would see Sumire like that. _Naive and thoughts all about justice_ , something I would never see from her during our time at the academy.

 ** _As I was a mockery of her real self, her new self was a mockery of my past self_**. Her new self was what made me makes those mistakes along the way. It wasn't due to her cluelessness or anything innocent, _it was her act of being naive that threw me off_. It's so off-looking.

**_And that's the irony of it._ **

_'I used to be real till I became a fake but she's still a fake, no matter what kind of mask she puts on....'_

_No matter what kind of painful memories you're trying to sever from, you will never be a real deal if you deny them_.

And so I accepted everything.

My past mistakes and the current ones, _I accepted them_.

I have already accepted my punishment, might as well accept those.

Now... _I'm ready to daydream for a long time_.

I'm ready to live out the life I wish to have with everyone else..... at someplace where I will never get hurt again.

.......

I can hear footsteps coming closer, that means they finally regroup and now approaching the _Seeker Room_.

I'm getting tired unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to say a thing or two as soon as they've arrived, _'That's a shame... I had a snark or two that I had in mind to say....'_

I can hear them calling out for me.

......

I closed my eyes, finally with a smile after all the things I've been through _._

_'Ah, Shino..... looks like I will be going ahead first... I'm sorry...... sorry for wasting your worrisome thoughts for someone like me... I hope you have a better end than mine... I will see you soon.....'_

_......._

**[ " _Let's meet again someday_......" ]**

* * *

Feeling a phantom thug on the back of my shirt, I opened my eyes slightly, only to be beheld by the ruinous state of the class trial room before me. I didn't even try to move a muscle or anything because... _why should I?_ Should it be expected of me to panic and run away from this end? It's a fitting conclusion for this useless psychologist and myself here.

The survivors may have already left this place for good, leaving behind this cage of theirs that trapped them for who knows how long.

All that's left in this place that housed the **_Experimental Killing Game_** is **_a failure of this so-called Ultimate Despair_** and **_the former Ultimate Psychologist_**.

 _In the end, only four survivors left this place behind_.

' _What an irritating outcome_.....' The lowest of the low, we ended up going for the most disappointing end out of everything they could have possibly aim for. Two years being turned into waste because of one misstep.... _the first killing and class trial that seals the deal_

 _And so the killing game has to continue_.

An instinct of mine came in too late for my dull present self, pushing the blame onto the _Ultimate Conman_ or, _Rei_ which he called himself as. Even when he took up another identity, he still has the gall to try and piss me off even further, ridiculing me for every mistake my present self made.

What's even more insulting is that..... _this Ultimate Private Investigator managed to form a closer bond with everyone else, more so that I did in the past_.

 _That's right_ , I'm calling that thing as nothing but just a ' _petty investigator_ ' that everyone has been interacting during this killing game; _that thing and I are completely separated people._

_Confused? Well, tough luck. There's nothing else I could say that could clear that up._

All you have to know is that the point of view you're currently reading right now is the sore loser, **_the supposed Ultimate Despair, Hosino Sumire_**.

_That's all there is to my name now._

However... I must applaud Eiichi's tenacity in trying to get back at me. Just as I allowed him to befriend with everyone during our time at the academy, he allowed me to go through the same process as he did during the killing game.

_An eye for an eye, I supposed. You reap what you sow._

With that, a beautifully crafted yet tainted doll soon broke down with what overflowing emotions they've left right now. Right as that investigator finally got the answers they wanted, _they're no longer left in the unknown_.

I guess that's what separates myself from them; the investigator easily left once she got all the answers while I got left behind stuck with all the burdens piling up behind my back.

The burdens that I've been collecting after all this time. Just to get something done, to get it right and yet I've been rewarded with nothing.

_I will never be satisfied with anything._

"Hey... teacher....."

"Hmm... what is it?" he lifted his head as if to look at me from the ground he's currently lying on. "This is the first time I've been addressed like that since we got here so I hope this is a kinder conversation...."

"And it will be your last...." I gave him that sharp reply. "That husk you've been calling.... just how long did it take for them to realise it?"

"Ahhh.... the investigator....." the psychologist pondered for a while. "Not too long but she has doubts here and there. She did felt like something's wrong, I can tell from her expressions and mannerisms. But no matter what, her concerns were immediately dashed away by my pesky students. I almost wanted to show myself just to scold them for interrupting a really careful review!!"

If they didn't then that would have lead to the investigator making ridiculous decisions behind their back, like that time they went to see Eiichi in person before the explosions went off.

"Still....." I threw my head back against the throne. "I still don't get why they favoured them the most... _I can't understand that part_...."

"Well, you're never mostly there plus you're pretty much unlikable...." I stepped on his back for that remark. "The most probable reason is that.... _she's more realistic than you are_..... In fact!! I even prefer her way of thinking rather than yours!!"

" _Shut up, you just don't want to get dragged down and thrown around so easily by your students all the time_...."

"And another thing....." the psychologist hummed while ignoring that jab. ".... even if they don't want to admit it, _those survivors and yourself are more alike than I first thought_. I guess they don't like seeing their ideals in flesh and blood being presented so terribly...."

_I see_ , now I can see how my curse will affect them down the line. Higura, mostly, would be the one being pushed into the spotlight now, _'Nara and Eiichi all fell for theirs... I wonder how he will avoid that curse...?'_

My curse hasn't gotten hold of me yet so in a sense, I have a small victory here.

_A curse that was cast onto me right after I left the orphanage._

_'Ah... I'm finally done with everything.....'_ I quietly held my legs close to my chest, resting my chin on top of it. _'Finally, I got my wish here..... to disappear forever...... without a face and identity..... to continuously live as something else.... has been nothing but a burden....'_

For once, my whole body feels light, I managed to tune out the noises of destruction around me. _And after a long time, a peaceful smile formed on my face._

_Hey, Eiichi.... guess what? I lost as well...... Nara beat both of us, that little gremlin. Seems like all we can do now is to watch them progress even further than we did in the past._

_I will be seeing you in a short while....._ **_I'm sorry for everything_ ** _....._

_....._

_..... Huh...? Why.... is there resounding applause....?_ **_Who's there_ ** _?_

* * *

" _\- and that's the entire report_. _If our professors are telling the truth then you guys should recover most of your memories by now. Please recite everything you remember for any faulty. I will punish them for being unreliable if there's any error..._ "

"Unnecessary..." The older man patted the younger detective shoulder, squeezing it as if to hold his word back. "They have no reason to lie to us now... _when we technically helped them out of their dire situation_...."

"Tsk..." the younger detective clicked his tongue in annoyance. "At least give me a chance to mess them up!! It was hell for me to go through while waiting for mentor and Rai-kichii!!"

The man pulled his cheek in retaliation, " _Don't be cheeky,_ ** _I will ground you_**...."

" _Yer' not mey' parent!!_ " the former still have the bite to fight back. " _Shtap that, yer' bashtard!!_ "

"Just put these weirdos aside for a moment here...." another man stepped in. "I'm sure you're confused as shit in hearing us out but let's reintroduce so that you can wipe those idiotic looks on your faces.... the name's **_Hanabusa Raisei_** , leader of the **_Hanabusa Clan_**. You've already met my deadbeat son here, **_Hanabusa Kaoru_**...."

"Old man has no class at all when it comes to his family...." the bodyguard sighed. "Oh well, nice to meet you again, _Mochizuki_! What a shocking development! Who would have known there was a sneaky, trashy snake within your personal attendees!! I'm happy to receive any punishment for my actions!!"

"Shut up, you're losing more value the more you talk, don't you have any shame at all....." Raisei snapped while pointing at the first two people arguing still. "And these two are..... unfortunately, were the reasons why we're able to rescue other prisoners including your parents..... **_Hoshino Iwao_** , the bastard that I have to look out for and **_Kōsaka Kouki_**... _the so-called_ ** _secret weapon_** _of their investigation team_...."

"At least let me introduce myself more cool-like! Geez, the _Hanabusa Clan_ are a bunch of mood-killers but whatever..... Hey, you guys have nothing wrong with your head right? _Can't imagine being all jolly after an intense **killing game**_...."

Even though I tuned out most of their bickering, I did and try to pay attention to some of the details they've spouted, soaking it all in as much as I can. _It's difficult for me to stay focus, even when we were left for a few weeks to recover._

_All three- no, four survivors of the Experimental Killing Game held at the Yumeino Luxury Hotel.... or actually, a mockery of the actual hotel we were missing at first._

**_Setsu Hibiki_ ** _, the_ **_Ultimate Opera Singer... Osame Hiroshi,_ ** _the_ **_Ultimate Abseiler, Katou Nara_ ** _or whatever her name is supposed to be,_ **_the Ultimate Hacker_ ** _.... and myself,_ **_Mochizuki Higura_ ** _, the_ **_Ultimate Graphic Designer_.**

With our memories of the past still foggy and relying on Nara's account (especially the recordings from her original robot-self during the first year), _our current ones matched with what happened outside the killing game_.

During the first motive, _our families and closed ones were all kidnapped and_ ** _silenced_**.... **_but not for too long_**.

It seems The Genesis didn't take any measures in trying to subdue both the **_Former Wolves of Hope's Peak_** into consideration. And because of that..... _they were easily crushed by them_.

"Took me too goddamn long to get my men under control again...." the yakuza leader grunts. "Barely managed to patch through your old friend to get to you three so you all better be fucking grateful...."

" _Nara's glad that Gura, Biki & Roshi are all well once she found them....!!_" the hacker's still communicating through the busted-up Monomyou, still refusing to see us face-to-face. " _Nara's afraid that she was too late....!!_ "

"With how you're dicking around with the control when you get the chance earlier, _I was less than optimistic about their survival_....." scoffed Kouki, with the robot punching his legs with minimal effort. "However, this isn't the time to be relaxing still....."

"Of course, there are still other matters about.... _the relatives of those who already died at that place_......" Iwao placed a hand onto the robot to stop their actions. "..... Mr Kageo's currently handling them but...."

"Then I will tell them...." Hiroshi stood up, the blanket that was placed on him for comfort fell off. "I will... try and explain what happened in there......"

"I will help too...." Hibiki gets up as well.

" _That's-_ "

" ** _Grief is an annoying thing_** , _Kigan_...." Raisei interrupts his speech with a glare. "You may be indifferent about it for a long time already but at the very least... let them know what happened to their own children in there. We will accompany them in case things went horribly wrong...."

" _Right_..... then you guys can go....." Iwao and Kouki stepped aside for the Hanabusa members and just like that, Raisei and Kaoru escorted both Hiroshi and Hibiki to help out my father on his end. Now, I'm left with the _Former Ultimate Private Investigator_ and his apprentice.

"Now, who would have known Mr Kageo's kid got some ball to go against that crazy-ass psychologist...." Kouki, the younger detective, snickers. "It's almost alluring... even I wouldn't want to go against _Mireikichi_ like that. _I like my head to stay in its place_...."

" _Fighting with words.... against my own student even....._ " Iwao added. "That good-for-nothing show host truly did improve himself from experience...."

Despite my dubious feelings towards these people, I still want to ask them.... _about her_. " _Hey.... about... Sumi...._ "

" _Mireikichi's orders are absolute, nothing can be done about escorting her or that crazy psychologist out of there_...." Kouki answered quickly. " _And it's better that way_. Imagine the shock when people found out the infamous Kageo' son rescued the same person who's behind this second coming of tragedy. Use your head, don't burden your own family name like that...."

"There will be plenty of faults if we did bring those two back...." Iwao continued. ".... _We would have to deal with those people again_...."

"But she said they will come back... no matter what, _they will come back_....." That's the important bit. Even if that turned out to be the truth in our current situation, _I wouldn't let it get to me that much_ , "Hey... when she said that..... was she lying about it....?"

"Mireikichi lied about a lot of things but it's still rare when it comes to her own cases...." Kouki brought up a point. "The moment we kicked their doors down, they've already fled with their between their legs. _Bunch of spineless, cowardly planktons!_ Now they're gone out of radar, undetected once again!!"

I narrowed my eyes the more this foul-mouthed (ironically more than myself) detective keeps running his mouth like he's part of this operation, "... Just who are you really... _are you that close with Sumi?_ " He's been talking about her like an old friend or something.

"We had some history together but overall... _we're just some co-workers_..." And the detective leaves it at that. "We worked on some cases before, that's it....."

"Kouki here used to be under my guidance before he decided to help out the police forces instead for current his case...." Investigator Iwao had his hand on the younger detective's head, gripping onto it as if he's warning him to not spout out more taunts. ".... Don't praise him for that.... he's still a brainless idiot who never learns to shut his mouth...."

" _Wanna fight, yer' slack-off asshole?!_ "

' _Seriously the way they speak..... remind me of Taiga and Hiroshi a bit....._ ' I unconsciously gripped onto the blanked on my shoulders when I got reminded of the marksman. "I..... I'm not sure what are you guys planning to do now but... _I wanna help_...."

I don't want those sons of bitches getting away after all those shitty things they did to us!!! Especially.... _towards Sumire, Eiichi and our teacher whom we can't deny we're close with during our first year together_.

"That's too much of a bite you're going to chew later...." Kouki frowned, crossing his arms together. "You're just a snot-nosed brat relying on their father for power so to do things in your own way is out of the question-"

"That doesn't mean I'm willing to sit back and relax while those fuckers still scheming out there...." I snapped back at the detective. "And what's the disadvantage with _that_ exactly? _If I have that chance now then I'm fucking using it however I want!!_ "

"And... **_how exactly_**...." the younger detective eerily smiled, he's actually relishing in this strong front I'm putting up here. " _I'm curious to hear out how you would try and take them down yourself_...."

' _This shithead expects me to come up with a fool-proof plan on the spot?_ ' He truly is an apprentice of Investigator Iwao and an acquaintance of Sumire, _another pretty face with a devilish mind_. I bit my lower tongue as the words from the so-called failure of **_Ultimate Despair_** rang out in my mind;

**[** _ **"**.... In the end, you will be carrying the weight of everyone's expectations and it will come crashing down once everything goes wrong, and everyone wants someone to blame. _**_That will be your curse.."_** **]**

".... I don't know but....." I shook my head as I threw all my doubts and worries aside, determined about this path of mine I decided to go down myself. Because if that curse were to happen soon... I have to be ready for it, no matter what. "I need everyone's help to stop them if we don't want another tragedy to happen..... Investigator Iwao and the Hanabusa family.... whoever's hellbent in stopping them, **_they can give me their aid and I will make it happen_**..... ** _I won't let them get away_**......"

The younger detective hummed, eyeing on me closely before he called out to Iwao, "Mentor... I might have to drop the case that I took before prior to getting kidnapped....."

"No need to say it twice, I've taken it for myself....." Iwao reassured him. " _You seem to be interested in this one more_...."

"Of course. While Mireikichi likes to play around with the **_unfit_** and you with that kink of breaking down the **_strongest_**...... _I want to punish some_ ** _defiance_** _if they turned out to be wrong_..... it's our motto to never treat things one-sidedly, right, mentor?"

Investigator Iwao went silent at his own apprentice's words.... until he spoke directly at me with no uncertainties to spare in his tone, "... _So, what kind of aid are you looking for in this order of yours?_ "

.....

.........

...............

..........................

...............

........

....

Detective Kouki exited the room early with Investigator Iwao and Higura still discussing the plan. The mere thought of the **_Ultimate Graphic Designer_** potentially getting the power he wanted to change things, through his father, is almost **_comical_**.

"That's a good one.... that kid....." he keeps on chuckling at that confrontation. "Who could have known he would come to that conclusion...... ** _you sure didn't predict that, Mr Kageo_**...."

Besides him was the famous late-night host leaning against the wall with his hand in his pockets, _quietly listening in to everything_ , "That's my boy, alright.... taking the initiative first!! I was getting worried when he didn't leave with the other two.... _but I guess it's all for nothing_...."

"You're so bad at hiding that I can immediately point out at which time you've arrived here...." Kouki taunted. " _I have sharp senses so it's impossible to step in my territory so discreetly_."

"Boy, you must have been so pissed for being taken out by those Genesis people then....." Kageo laughed once he saw the detective's face reddened at the mentioned of his capture. "Who would have known we would bond in a shared cell!!"

"About that Mr Kageo....." the detective cleared his throat as he asked, "..... **_who are you actually_** _?_ "

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"You know, those people can parade around with their dumbassery and they wouldn't even think twice about their actions...." Kouki explained. "They separated people according to importance..... _so I wonder why would they placed a show host with a detective and other important figures as well_...."

"Maybe because I'm the CEO of _illuXion_? You know, the one associated with the ultimate academy and have endless profiles of previous students we worked with?" Kageo offered a suggestion. "It's more of a business talk than a.... um.... to be fair, I have no idea what to even think about this whole Genesis thing and their plans! I was only following around blindly because of our academy' partnership so this has been a shocking twist!! Wouldn't expect something like this happened again!!"

"..... By ' _again'_....." Kouki pointed out. ".... Could you possibly be referring to..... _the Steering Committee of Hope's Peak Academy?_ "

"That's......" the show host went into deep thoughts before answering. ".... Those people are a whole another level. The Genesis barely scratched the surface of what they've done so far compared to them....."

"Ah, I wonder what you meant by that...... _when the only public information about that committee was them taking advantage of the Reserve Course students of the past_....." with that, the show host flinched at his mistake as Kouki smiled. "Ahaha, like I've said, you're really bad! Mr Kageo, you should be more glad that you're talking to me instead!! Or.... **_should I even call you by that name_** _?_ "

"...... _Why, aren't you a sore threat for myself here_...." Kageo bitterly laughs. "Ahhh, I got busted, just when I promised Iwao and Rai that I did my best to hide it......"

" _Don't bother hiding it from me_....." Kouki gave him a warning. "After all, _there's nothing about everything that I wouldn't know at all_. The more you keep on hiding stuff from me, _the more I will dig up some old wounds only to push them in deeper_. I can do that to you physically as well **_since you used to be someone entirely different in the past_**....."

"..... _Don't ruin this chance for everyone here_...." Kageo kept a stoic expression as he said. "Seeing my son so determined like that, do you have any idea how happy I was to see that? It's been a long time coming and _I don't want my past faults to crush that hope of his_...."

"He might know about it sooner or later once he figured out why his father suddenly approved a yakuza to be his bodyguard...." the detective pointed out. "Out of everyone involved in this mess.... _yours' the most well-hidden one_ so there's no way I'm going to sell you out like that...."

"Good!!" the show host suddenly regained back his happy, bubbly self. "Seriously, what a disaster!! I thought we were cell buddies!!"

"First off, forget about that, you were very infuriating that I couldn't keep my hands from strangling myself just so I wouldn't hear you blabbering...." Kouki pointed at him. "Second off.... _there's no way I wanna place my trust in you_...."

" _Touché_!!" Kageo laughed as he ruffled Kouki's hair up. "..... That's a promise between us secretive fellows then... I will be counting on you to look after my son while I'm gone..."

"Gone where-"

" _Vacationing_!!" Kageo pushed forward the detective as he twirled around. "All those kidnapping stress won't just go away like that!! Which is why I'm taking my beautiful wife on a cruise!! I would have asked Hira if he wants to follow along but I have a feeling he doesn't want to!!"

" ** _Do that to me again and you will lose your fingers, I swear_**...." Kouki grunted.... _and groaned the afterwards._ "Ugh, I sound like that shitty yakuza uncle again. This is your fault! As punishment, give me all the free luxury since I will be working with your son!!"

"Done!!" Kageo replied enthusiastically. "Well then, I will be going now to check on Rai and others!! _I will be looking forward to what you and Hira will be planning for the future_...."

"There's nothing to worry about us here....." Kouki exclaimed, his face darkens when watching the show host leaving the area. "... _Not when you're still around,_ ** _Mr Whistleblower_**..."

........

...............

..........................

_Alas.... as the curtain calls for the next set of actors to stand on stage... may their fate never intertwined with their predecessors'._

_May the Kasha carry their bodies, tainted with sins they've accumulated in their lives._

_............_

**_The Yumeino Ultimate Academy will wait for their arrival soon_ ** _......_

_..................._

~~**_"I will never forgive you....."!_ ** ~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * 'Kigan' (奇岩) means 'strangely shaped rocks'. Raisei sees others nothing but as flat stepping stones for him to get what he wanted. He basically described Iwao as somewhat of an obstacle for him as the investigator always prevents his actions in the past (and was called an eccentric back then).
> 
> * Kōsaka Kouki may have been a character introduced really late in this story but he was mentioned (not directly) before in the Valentines' Day special and Taiga's FTE, more specifically by Sumire. 
> 
> _______
> 
> If you're still even after all the nonsense things happening in this story then bravo!! Applause!! You managed to reach the end of it all finally!! Reading this painfully slow story progressing at a pace of a snail must have been terrible! Sorry about that! Even though I'm slightly not! :D
> 
> I have to say, I did overdo at some parts of the story since this is still a self-indulgent project but I hope you enjoy them nonetheless!! The re-telling of what leads to the event of the main story!!!  
> Thank you for reading the story of the worst, the vile and the most ignorant people in the series!


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